Dongguan village chief's luxury villa draw comment
A village chief in Dongguan has sparked outrage among internet users when it was revealed that he owned a luxurious villa in a 7,000 square metre compound.
Yi village has 3,000 residents, including migrants. Chen has been village party boss since 2005. The newspaper quoted an online posting which first exposed the villa as saying that Chen hired five domestic staff - a cleaner, chef, doorkeeper, gardener and laundry worker - to look after his villa.
Chen told the newspaper that he bought 400 square metres of residential land from four villagers in 2006 for 350 yuan (HK$430) a square metre. He built the town house two years later.
His brother leased the remaining land for the villa compound from the village committee. But the newspaper did not report how much rent Chen's brother has paid.
The township anti-corruption watchdog is now investigating Chen's case, but a propaganda official with the township government said Chen has a valid land certificate to build the villa.
The exposure of Chen's villa comes after that of other luxurious properties owned by Guangdong officials. On Wednesday, Guangzhou's Panyu district confirmed that a local political commissar owned 21 properties worth more than 40 million yuan. The reported yesterday that he had been suspended from his job.
