13.5 Tonnes of Gold Discovered in The Home of Corrupt Chinese Official

• A raid in the house of a top official in China revealed that he has been keeping an enormous amount of gold in his basement.
• Zhang Qi, former mayor of Danzhou, allegedly received the gold, along with some cash, as bribes.
• If proven guilty, the official will likely face death penalty.

A top Chinese official recently made headlines after his alleged involvement in corruption. According to reports, an astounding 13.5 tonnes of gold bars have been found in the home of Zhang Qi, secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Haikou and member of Hainan’s Standing Committee.

Along with the piles of gold, investigators also found 268 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) worth of money in Zhang Qi’s house in Hainan. Allegations tell us that the official may have received the gold and cash as bribes. As a result, he has been removed from his two positions.

During a raid, piles of gold bars with an estimated worth of $637 million have been discovered in the secret basement of Zhang Qi’s home.

The 58-year-old official definitely has some serious explaining to do.

If the allegations are proven to be true, Zhang Qi may be considered richer than Jack Ma.

Ma, who is the founder of Alibaba, is currently China’s wealthiest with a networth of $38 billion.

Once proven guilty of ‘economic crimes’, Zhang Qi could possibly be facing execution since corruption is punishable with death penalty in the country.

Zhang Qi was a former mayor in Danzhou and he was in office from 2008 to 2010. Now he is under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission.

Watch the video report here:

Netizens have since bashed the official, with some calling him as a real-life Scrooge McDuck because of the piles of gold he kept at home.

One person also pointed out

“And that’s just one corrupt person in the government! Imagine how many others are out there.”

Another commented that the gold will just move from “one corrupt official to another.”