Officials in Guangdong province investigated for receiving gift money

A total of 16 prefecture-level Party and government officials were investigated for accepting hongbao, or red envelopes containing money, in South China's Guangdong province in the first quarter of year, according to a statement released by the province's top anti-graft body on Friday.

The officials were investigated for taking bribes after the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China, held in late 2012, initiated a nationwide fight against corruption, the statement said.

Bribe money worth millions of yuan have been confiscated between January and March after investigations into the corruption cases involving senior Party and government officials, the statement said.

The Guangdong Provincial Party Commission for Discipline Inspection has vowed to redouble its efforts to fight corruption in the following months, the statement added.

The senior officials who have been placed under investigation include Jiang Zunyu, Lin Chuxin Ouyang Zhihong and Mai Jingru.

Jiang, a former member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China's Shenzhen Committee and secretary of the city's CPC committee for political and legal affairs, was found to have purchased 42 houses for family members in Shenzhen special economic zone which borders Hong Kong special administrative region. Jiang, 57, was also found to have bank deposits valued at more than 200 million yuan ($32.1 million).

Lin, former deputy director of Guangdong provincial department of finance, was found to have accepted a large sum of bribes for promoting his subordinates.

Ouyang, former director of Guangdong provincial geological bureau, and Mai, former deputy inspector with Guangdong provincial department of land and resources, were also discovered to have bribed large sums of money and seriously violated Party disciplines and State laws.