Official suspended after sex photos go viral

Lin Zonghui is seen in a photo showing him in a compromising position. [Photo from web]

An official in east China has been suspended after local disciplinary authorities launched an investigation into photos showing him in compromising positions went viral, the Beijing News reported Tuesday.

A total of 26 images depicting "the enviable nightlife at a nightclub for a deputy bureau chief surnamed Lin" became an Internet sensation Tuesday. The official turned out to be Lin Zonghui, deputy director of Jin'an District's Housing Security and Real Estate Management Bureau in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, the newspaper said.

In the pictures, Lin kisses, hugs, dances and flirts with several women in short skirts at a nightclub.

Lin blamed the release of the photos to factionalism inside the bureau. He accused his boss Guo Mengying, Party secretary of the bureau, of tricking him into posing for the photos in an effort to get him sacked.

In response, Guo counterattacked by telling news website thepaper.cn that it is a fabricated charge. He said local authorities are investigating the case and he has full confidence in the probe. Guo added that he was not at the nightclub and had no idea that these photos even existed before they were posted online.

The pictures were originally posted by a netizen, with an online ID of 187660808, on the popular forum Baidu Tieba in Fuzhou early Tuesday.

Later on, he acknowledged in another post that he had paid for Lin's nightclub trip to gain advantage over bidding for construction projects and the photos were taken in secret by friends who were at the scene.

He added that he was forced to report the official because Lin extorted him but did not help him in winning the contract. He said he spent more than 100,000 yuan on Lin's several visits to nightclubs and even paid the prostitutes.

Lin told Xinhua that he was tricked into getting drunk at a dinner and taken to the nightclub. He claims he does not remember what happened because he was intoxicated at the time.