Police have detained Peng Zhimin, a major shareholder of the Chongqing Hilton Hotel, for suspected links to organized crime and prostitution, the police announced on June 24.

?Peng Zhimin [File photo]

Peng is also accused of a giving 300,000 yuan (US$44,200) bribe to the former vice director of Chongqing Public Security Bureau.

On June 19, police raided the Chongqing Hilton Hotel over suspicions of prostitution and other crimes. A total of 22 people were arrested.

A source close to the police said four of the arrested were police officers, and one of them had just been promoted for contributions to last year's gang raids, but authorities have yet to corroborate this.

Zhou Jingping, a police officer who had participated in the investigation, said Peng had been interrogated several times since last June for organized crime activities; however, Peng escaped charges due to a lack of evidence, but Zhou added that police had watched him closely since.

It's been rumored Peng earned his first significant money from a real estate project in Chongqing. He then invested in the Hilton Hotel and other high-end properties in the city. Peng was formerly a deputy to the People's Congress of Yuzhong District (the district law-making body) in Chongqing.