Three officials in Anhui province have been suspended pending an investigation into the suspicious death of a businessman.

Li Guofu died suddenly in March, and his death was recorded as a suicide. He had petitioned the central government over the abuse of power in his province.

Zhang Zhi'an, the Party chief of Yingquan district, Fuyang city, was detained on June 5 by Anhui provincial discipline inspection and prosecution authorities, the China Youth Daily newspaper reported yesterday.

Earlier, the Yingquan district's chief prosecutor Wang Cheng and anti-corruption chief Zheng Tao were suspended and put under investigation, the newspaper said.

Li had accused Zhang of various abuses of power, which included the construction of a luxury government building designed to look like the White House in the United States.

The China Youth Daily in earlier reports said Li, former head of a real estate development company in Fuyang, had traveled to Beijing several times hoping to bring Zhang to justice for building hotels, a golf course, a racecourse and a government office building on nearly 500 hectares of fertile farmland.

Sources close to the local government said the building, which was put into use in 2003, cost at least 30 million yuan ($4.3 million), nearly one-third of the total revenue of Yingquan district.

Li, in his petition, said Zhang had "put a close friend in charge of the construction and sold the old government office to real estate developers".

Early last year, Li told his family that Zhang "was about to take revenge", but he refused to be intimidated and continued his trips to Beijing to petition the government. He apparently hid the real purpose of his trips from his wife, telling her he was buying medicine.

He was detained by the local procuratorate in August last year. He was accused of fabricating official documents and seals, embezzling nearly 1 million yuan in public funds, and making 610,000 yuan in illegal profits by reselling properties.

Li had been under treatment since mid-January at the Fuyang prison hospital for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that had caused him to go blind.

Prison workers said he hung himself on March 13, a few hours before he was to meet his lawyer.

Li's family, however, questioned the claim of suicide. They said they saw bruises on his neck, chest and back. His mouth was tightly shut, a sign that he could not have died by hanging, his son, Li Denghui, said.

Corruption cases involving officials have repeatedly been reported in the eastern provinces and cities, which are witnessing a booming economy.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee on Sunday ordered Party organs at all levels to seriously carry out a new five-year plan which aims at establishing a system to punish and prevent corruption from 2008 to 2012.

The plan also intensifies the supervision of officials in various Party organs and governments. A close watch will be kept on officials' incomes, bribery, and interference in the marketplace through use of their positions.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2008)