Official accused of owning 21 homes

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BEIJING, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A Chinese municipal official is under investigation after being accused of owning 21 homes, authorities said.

The investigation against the accused, identified as a senior official in a district branch of the Guangzhou municipal urban management and law enforcement in southern Guangdong province, began after Internet users posted photographs of his properties on a micro blogging site, Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's Communist Party authorities have been cracking down on official corruption, which has become rampant with the country's booming economy.

Speaking to Xinhua, Guo Xuanyu, a spokesman with the district discipline inspection watchdog, said a preliminary investigation showed the 56-year-old accused allegedly has 21 homes -- far more than what he had reported to his superiors.

The spokesman said 18 of the homes are in Panyu district and the other three in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. He said 19 of the houses were listed under the name of the wife of the accused.

The report said the total market value of all of the homes together was estimated by a real estate agency at $6.3 million. The monthly pay of the accused was reported to be $1,593.

Xinhua earlier this week reported the crackdown against official corruption across the country resulted in more than 630,000 people being punished in the past five years.