Official holding 8 IDs fired

The screenshot shows the different ID Numbers used by Fan Hongwei, a deputy-director of the Public Security Bureau and head of traffic police in the city of Changzhi, north China's Shanxi province. A post online alleged that Fan was illegally assuming eight identities, complete with eight different personal identification cards and numbers, for corruption purposes. [Photo: Agencies]

Fan Hongwei, a deputy director of the Public Security Bureau and head of traffic police in the city of Changzhi, north China's Shanxi province, has been removed from his position after a post in an online forum showed eight different identification cards being linked to the deputy director, state media agency Xinhua reported Thursday.

Local investigation authorities confirmed that Fan illegally held more than one ID card and added that they are further looking into the case as to whether the former deputy director's multiple identities is connected to corruption.

The Beijing News reported on April 23 that the images of Fan's supposed eight IDs posted online shows that four ID numbers are shared among the eight ID cards, which are all connected to the name "Fan Hongwei." However, the Chinese characters used to spell the name on each ID card differ.

Likewise, the newspaper reported that the name connected to one of the eight IDs was changed five times.