Sex video of top Chinese official goes viral
New York, Nov 28 (ANI)
A five-year-old sex tape showing a top Chinese official and his mistress, has reportedly gone viral online.
The 50-something official, Lei Zhengfu, was fired from his position as district party secretary after the video, an apparent extortion attempt, went viral earlier this month and his jowly, pop-eyed mug became the butt of numerous Internet caricatures.
But the scandal may still be growing, as a whistleblowing former journalist says he may release similar tapes of more city officials soon, the New York Daily News reports.
The tape exploded on the Chinese Internet November 20 when screenshots of it were uploaded by a Beijing-based former journalist Zhu Ruifeng to his Hong Kong-registered website, an independent online clearing house for corruption allegations.
The lurid images, apparently taken secretly from a bedside table, show Lei having sex with a woman.
According to the paper, Zhu said that the woman, whose face is not visible in the screen grabs, was hired by a construction company to sleep with Lei in return for construction contracts.
The company later tried to use the tape to extort more business from Lei, he said.
Meanwhile, China's Xinhua news agency reported on Monday that Chongqing's corruption watchdog had pledged a thorough investigation of Lei, who was dismissed Friday, but said it had yet to formally receive a report about the allegations against Lei or the footage.