Beijing township official embezzled 821 mln yuan: top graft-buster

BEIJING - A low-ranked official from Beijing was exposed by the top graft-buster for embezzling 821 million yuan (134.2 million US dollars) to conduct financial transactions.

Zhang Peishan, former director of the agricultural service center of Machikou Township of Changping District, used escrow funds for financial investment from September 2008 to April 2014, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website.

Zhang put three million yuan of the funds into a personal account and pocketed the earnings. He also accepted 140,000 yuan from a loan and trust company.

According to the CCDI, Zhang has been stripped of Party membership and transferred to judicial organs.

Zhang's case is one of 165 that have been named and shamed by the top disciplinary arm for accepting bribes, embezzlement of public funds, lavish banquets, dereliction of duty, and other violations.

China has declared war on corruption at all levels since 2012, vowing to go after powerful "tigers" and lowly "flies."

An eight-point rule was introduced by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the end of 2012 to address bureaucracy, formalism and extravagance.

The CCDI has been publicizing these cases since April 2014.