Corruption Is Big Business And Even Bigger Money In China

China's Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang reacts as he attends the Hebei delegation discussion sessions at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing in this October 16, 2007 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee/Files

Exclusive: China Seizes $14.5 Billion Assets From Family, Associates Of Ex-Security Chief: Sources -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is at the centre of China's biggest corruption scandal in more than six decades, two sources said.

More than 300 of Zhou's relatives, political allies, proteges and staff have also been taken into custody or questioned in the past four months, the sources, who have been briefed on the investigation, told Reuters.

The sheer size of the asset seizures and the scale of the investigations into the people around Zhou - both unreported until now - make the corruption probe unprecedented in modern China and would appear to show that President Xi Jinping is tackling graft at the highest levels.

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My Comment: $14.5 billion in assets .... and just from one family .... and from the former security chief of the country .... wow. One of my closest Chinese contacts told me years ago that China is ruled and owned by about 800 families .... this arrest and seizure gives me an indication on what he was probably talking about. Here is an easy prediction .... this is just the tip of the corruption iceberg in China .... and the new leader of China is now clearly targeting the worst offenders.