BEIJING -- Investigators in China have found more than $33 million in cash at the home of an energy official accused of receiving bribes, in the country's largest cash seizure ever, a senior prosecutor said Friday.
If all that money was in 100-yuan notes, China's largest cash denomination, it would pile 656 feet high -- more than two-thirds the height of the Eiffel Tower, and weigh more than 2.2 U.S. tons.
Xu Jinhui, a top anti-graft prosecutor, said the cash was seized at the home of Wei Pengyuan, deputy chief of the coal bureau under the National Energy Administration. Wei is under investigation on accusations of corruption.
Investigators wore out four of the 16 cash-counting machines sent in to measure the stash, financial news publication Caixin reported.
Wei's energy administration is part of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission that sets broad policies for the world's second-largest economy.
Xu said 11 commission employees are under investigation over corruption allegations and six may have each received millions of dollars or more in bribes.
A Section on 11/01/2014