Ex-Chinese presidential aide arrested

Chinese authorities have arrested a senior aide to retired President Hu Jintao on charges of corruption, expelling him from the governing Communist Party of China (CPC) and removing him from all state positions.

China’s government said on Monday that Ling Jihua’s case has been handed over to judicial authorities, meaning he will face prosecution. The ruling by the CPC Politburo came seven months after the 58-year-old was placed under internal investigation for disciplinary violations.

The violations included allegedly accepting bribes, wrongly obtaining state secrets and committing adultery with multiple women, according China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Ling was once considered a top candidate for promotion to the Communist Party’s Politburo before it emerged that he had allegedly attempted to cover up the March 2012 deadly car crash in central Beijing that involved his 23-year-old and only son Ling Gu.

Ling was instead demoted in September 2012 from a ministerial-level job, and relieved as vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s National Committee, two months after the results of an investigation into the allegations against him were announced.

He is the latest senior Chinese official to be found guilty of taking bribes and engagement in corrupt behavior.

Earlier this year, former secretary of China’s Chongqing Party Bo Xilai and former security chief Zhou Yongkang were both sentenced to life in jail, while senior military official Xu Caihou died of cancer in hospital while facing corruption allegations.