Shen Jilong, head of the notary office of Tongxiang city, was suspended from his post following a further investigation regarding possible violations of wage distribution and financial regulations, the local government said yesterday.
An audit showed that his annual wages in 2010 reached 832,200 yuan (about USD 1.32 lakhs) while 12 of his office staff earned just 41,700 yuan on average that year.
The audit indicated that expenses related to food, gifts and business tours hit nearly 1 million yuan in 2010.
An investigation conducted by netizens on the web revealed that one of the office's "business tours" was actually a crab dinner for the city's notary association held in the city of Suzhou in neighbouring Jiangsu Province.
The bill for the dinner totalled 1.61 lakh yuan, state run Xinhua news agency reported.
Zhu Liping, Deputy Director of the city's Justice Bureau, was also suspended from her post for neglecting her duties.
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Earlier this month, authorities in south China's city of Guangzhou suspended senior Urban management official Cai Bin from his post over suspicions that he took large bribes while holding previous positions in the local government.
The suspicions were raised after netizens alleged that Cai's family owned more homes than they could afford on Cai's salary.