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China official had cash stash of $16m

Thursday, 15 May 2014


A Chinese official was found to have kept more than 100 million yuan ($16 million) in cash at his home, in the country's latest apparent corruption scandal, a report said Thursday.
Police deployed 16 money-counting machines to count the stash held by Wei Pengyuan, whose job involved approving the construction of power stations, respected financial media outlet Caixin reported.
Four of the counting machines broke down during the process, the report added. Wei is the deputy head of the coal bureau at China's National Energy Administration.
The highest value Chinese banknote is 100 yuan. That means Wei's stash contained at least a million notes, which would stack up to around 100 metres if placed in a single pile.
Authorities are investigating Wei, Caixin said, according to AFP.