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Since President Xi Jinping began his sweeping campaign against
corruption, waste and extravagance three years ago, the government
has released details of the sometimes luxurious lives of officials
who are supposed to live on modest sums and lead morally exemplary
lives.
Tales of graft and officials' high living have prompted widespread
public anger, and the party has vowed to come down hard on
offenders.
Wang Zhengshan, whose investigation the party announced in April,
was a senior official in a development zone in the northern port
city of Tianjin, but he ignored party discipline orders and got into
bed with a group of "illegal businessmen", the party's anti-graft
watchdog said on Thursday.
As he approached retirement and fearing his quality of life would go
down, he spent money taken as bribes on buying villas, the Central
Commission for Discipline Inspection said.
Wang illegally built a private club with three floors covering an
area of more than 1,200 sq m", the watchdog added, describing the
building as a copy of the Beijing Olympics 'Water Cube'.
"It had a swimming pool, gym, tennis court, restaurant, BBQ pit,
flower nursery and high-end imported mahogany furniture - a crazy
level of luxury," it said.
It also said Wang had tried to hinder the graft probe by agreeing to
a "conspiracy of silence" with other suspects.
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"Wang Zhengshan is an example of a party official in a leadership
position who ignored the law and discipline, acted without regard
for any authority, was blinded by lust for money and went mad in his
pursuit of extravagant pleasures."
He has been expelled from the party and his case transferred to the
legal authorities, the watchdog added, meaning he will be
prosecuted.
It was not possible to reach Wang for comment and unclear if he has
a lawyer.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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