China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced Monday that China has arrested Cui Maohu, former head of its National Religious Affairs Administration, over bribe-taking suspicions. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate is China’s highest prosecutorial organ.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China’s internal disciplinary body, dismissed Cui from the National Religious Affairs Administration and placed him under investigation for corruption on March 18. Cui was subsequently expelled from China’s ruling Communist Party and removed from public office last Wednesday.
According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Cui illegally occupied arable land to engage in vanity projects. In addition, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stated that Cui had improperly accepted gifts and property and abused his position for sex and money.
This is not the first time China has placed a senior government official under investigation due to corruption suspicions. Zheng Hong, former deputy chairman of Chongqing Municipal People’s Congress, and Jiang Zhigang, former deputy party chief of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, were placed under investigation for corruption a few days before Cui. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to continue the country’s crackdown on corruption during the Communist Party Congress last October. The Ministry of National Defense also asserted that the Chinese military governs according to the law and does not tolerate corruption.