A deputy party chief of Maoming city in the southern province of Guangdong has been placed under investigation by the Communist Party’s graft fighter, in a sign that a probe over local officials offering bribes for legislative seats and promotions is expanding.A source close to the matter said the probe was related to the case of Zhu Mingguo former top political advisor of Guangdong.The party’s graft watchdog announced an investigation into Liao Feng August 12 on suspicion of corruption.The source said Liao was close to Zhu, who was Liao’s superior for many years in the anti-corruption authority and the social work committee system.The recent probe into Liao is related to an anti-corruption investigation Zhu was overseeing which involved more than 200 officials in Maoming, said the source.Liao was the head of the city’s anti-corruption authority at the time.The party’s graft watchdog found in 2011 that hundreds of officials had offered bribes to high-level officials for promotions and legislative seats in Maoming.However, not all officials involved were punished at the time.When an anti-graft inspection team visited Maoming at the beginning of last year, the team urged local authorities to reinvestigate the case.The Guangdong provincial party committee said in June last year that 159 more officials involved in the Maoming corruption case were punished.
