Hunan businesswoman suspected of offering bribes

An entrepreneur in Hunan province offered 3.7 million yuan ($588,000) in bribes to become a deputy to the local People's Congress, Zhao Xi, a reporter of China Central Television, wrote in an online post.

Zuo Jianguo, the chairwoman of a real estate company in Hengyang city's Nanyue district, was elected as a deputy to Hunan's provincial People's Congress in 2012.

In the whistle-blowing post, Zhao said that Zuo spent more than 700,000 yuan in 2007 and 3 million yuan late last year to get the position.

Zuo's husband is a former official of Hengshan county People's Congress, and he helped her to offer the bribes to get the position, Zhao wrote.

The Hengyang city's publicity department said on Wednesday that local authorities are investigating the matter, and that it is unclear whether the allegations in the whistle-blowing post are true or false, the Nanfang Daily reported.