China: Interpol head Meng Hongwei indulged in corruption

Meng Hongwei giving an address at the opening of the Interpol World Congress in Singapore last year. Pic/AFP

Meng Hongwei, the Chinese head of Interpol, who vanished mysteriously late last month, is being investigated for alleged corruption, China announced on Monday, the latest high-profile target to be ensnared in a sweeping anti-graft campaign led by President Xi Jinping.

Meng, who was also a vice minister of public security in China, was first reported missing in late September after travelling from Interpol's Headquarters in France to China. Concerns over Meng's whereabouts were first raised by wife, Grace, who reported him missing to French authorities in the city of Lyon, where the couple live, last Thursday.

Grace has revealed that Meng, the first Chinese head of Interpol, sent her a text message with a knife emoji on the day he went missing, indicating that he was in trouble. Meng, 64, has been accused by the Chinese government of accepting bribes and committing unspecified other crimes. "(Meng) insisted on taking the wrong path and had only himself to blame (for his downfall)," the country's top law enforcement official, Zhao Kezhi, was quoted as saying in a statement on Monday.

Monday's statement on the ministry of public security's website provided no details about the bribes Meng allegedly took or the other crimes he has been accused of, but indicated that he was also being investigated for political lapses.

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