Retired official in sex scandal probe

A retired official from Central China, who is at the center of a sex scandal, has been placed under criminal detention, local authorities said on Jan 24.

Zhang Minqiang, 61, former director of the Bureau for Letters and Calls in Shangqiu, Henan province, is accused of duty-related crimes, the city’s publicity department was quoted by China News Service as saying.

The bureau is a government agency designed to hear complaints from the public.

Zhang was reported by a woman in Shangqiu who uploaded several sexually explicit photos of Zhang online. The woman said the former official is a womanizer who has forced her into an indecent relationship since 2009.

She also accused him of extorting more than 100,000 yuan ($16,000) from her by promising to help her get a job and an apartment at a low price.

The posting has attracted wide attention on the Internet since last week.

The Shangqiu government’s publicity department confirmed the man on the pictures is Zhang, adding that further investigations are under way.