Former NEA official charged with bribery

A former energy official who concealed more than 200 million yuan ($32.2 million) in cash at his home will face charges of accepting huge bribes and owning large amounts of property from unknown sources, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Wednesday.

Wei Pengyuan, 56, was deputy director of the National Energy Administration's coal department from 2008 to last May and in charge of coal infrastructure and project approval.

The procuratorate designated the Baoding City People's Prosecuting Department, in Hebei province, to conduct a further investigation into Wei's case.

"The probe into Wei's case has concluded, and the prosecutors will prosecute him at a later date," according to a statement released by the SPP on Wednesday.

The money is the largest amount seized from an official in the crackdown on corruption since the founding of New China in 1949, said Xu Jinhui, director of the SPP's anti-corruption and bribery bureau.

In May 2014, Wei was taken away by anti-graft officers for serious violations of Party rules.

In October, prosecutors found 200 million yuan hidden at his home, and 16 money scanners from banks were used at the scene to count the money??with four of them burning out during the operation, according to Xu.