CHONGQUING, China, May 8 (UPI) -- Twenty-one government officials and executives of state-owned businesses in southwest China have been caught in a sex video scandal, local officials said.
It began when a sex video featuring the Communist Party chief of Chongqing's Beibei district went viral on the Internet, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The party chief was removed from his post three days later but the scandal wasn't over.
A Chinese journalist prompted a further investigation of the matter after it was revealed that other officials were featured in the secret video.
Chongqing police discovered that a criminal ring had hired women to seduce local officials, covertly record their sexual acts and blackmail them. The videos were also used as extortion tools to obtain government contracts.
