China's powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been arrested and put under a judicial probe after being expelled from the Communist Party, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported early Saturday. Zhou - who retired from China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in 2012 - "leaked the party's and the country's secrets," Xinhua said, adding that the once-influential official was found to have "accepted a large amount of money and properties personally and through his family".
The announcement makes Zhou the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four - a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong - were put on trial in 1980. An official's dismissal from the party paves the way for a criminal prosecution which usually leads to guilty verdict at a trial, followed by a prison sentence. Zhou became ensnared in President Xi Jinping's much-publicised anti-corruption drive in July when he was put under investigation for "serious disciplinary violation".