Official illegally taps 120m yuan of cash from tap water supply

A former official in charge of water supply in Beidaihe District, a sea resort close to Beijing, was suspected of bribe taking, corruption and embezzlement after 120 million yuan of cash and 37 kilograms of gold were found in his residence.

Ma Chaoqun, former general manager of a water supply company of Beidaihe in Qinhuangdao City, was also found to have 68 real estate certificates in his home, according to the latest briefing by the discipline inspection body of Hebei Province neighboring Beijing.

The provincial discipline watchdog has announced in August that Ma was under investigation without giving details.

The cash found in Ma's home could weigh as heavy as 1.38 tonnes, supposing they were all 100-yuan notes. The Chinese currency with the biggest face value is the 100-yuan note.

The 37 kg of gold, or 1,189.6 ounce, is equal to at least 1.38 million U.S. dollars based on Wednesday's price. The gold price has dived dramatically since last year.

The 68 housing units were scattered in places including Beijing and Qinhuangdao. Their value in total is yet to be known.

An inspection team was sent to Hebei Province at the end of July by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

All 13 inspection teams of the CPC top discipline watchdog were tipped off about suspected violations during their latest round of checks, according to the CCDI website.

China started a new round of official conduct inspections in July and 13 teams were sent by the CCDI to oversee officials in the provincial regions of Guangxi, Shanghai, Qinghai, Tibet, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, Sichuan and Jiangsu.

Officials with the General Administration of Sport, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and state-owned automaker China FAW Group Corporation were also probed.