A former politics and law commission official in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, was placed under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes and patronizing prostitutes, Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Wednesday.

Surnamed Wang, the former official under the Shenzhen city Party committee, allegedly sought bribes in May 2007 from a local company. He allegedly claimed he could help the company win a lawsuit regarding a payment of 12 million yuan ($1.98 million) to another company in Hunan province.

Wang got 800,000 yuan from the local company but did not help them.

The company then filed a report against Wang.

He also allegedly spent some of the money he was given on more than 40 visits to prostitutes.