THE Party’s anti-graft watchdog has launched a formal investigation into Song Lin, chairman of State-owned conglomerate China Resources.

    Song is suspected of “having seriously violated laws and disciplines” — which usually means corruption — the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on its website Thursday evening.

    The announcement came two days after a journalist with Xinhua News Agency, Wang Wenzhi, accused Song of having a mistress and using her to launder large amounts of money from allegedly corrupt deals. Song later denied these allegations in an official statement.

    On Tuesday, Wang posted intimate photos on his microblog of Song with a woman, Yang Lijuan. Wang also claimed that Song was suspected of embezzlement and dereliction of duty.

    It is the second time that Wang has accused Song.

    China Resources (Holdings) is a State-owned conglomerate registered in Hong Kong. The first allegation arose in July last year when Wang accused Song of intentionally overpaying for three coal mines and other assets that China Resources Power, the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of China Resources, bought in 2010 in Shanxi Province. Wang believed the transaction led to the loss of billions of yuan in State-owned assets.

    Meanwhile, Shen Weichen, Party secretary and executive vice president of China Association for Science and Technology, has been removed from his post for suspected violation of discipline and laws, the Organization Department of the Party Central Committee said Thursday.(SD-Agencies)