A corrupt transport official from southwest China's Yunnan Province, who fled to Singapore to escape police, abused his position to take more than 40 million yuan (5.2 million U.S. dollars) in bribes, a local official said on Saturday.

Hu Xing, former deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Transport Department, was also accused of taking advantage of his post to help his relatives profit from business activities, keeping a mistress, having "unlawful sexual relationships" with other women, and escaping abroad, said Guo Yongdong, deputy secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Yunnan Provincial Committee.

Hu disappeared in January while local authorities were investigating a major economic crime, in which he was suspected of involvement, Guo said.

Hu, born in Oct. 1958, had served as deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Transport Department since Nov. 2004, and previously served as vice mayor of Kunming, capital of Yunan Province.

His responsibilities in the provincial government mainly concerned roads and transportation, and he was in charge of city planning and construction during his term as vice mayor of Kunming.

Hu was captured in Singapore on Feb. 18, and expelled from the CPC and removed from his post on April 24, Guo said.

"The case has been transferred to judicial authorities because Hu is a criminal suspect," the official said.

Source: Xinhua