Chinese media are reporting that a low-ranking official accused of embezzling nearly 100 million yuan (CDN$14 million) has fled to Canada.
The reports say Li Huabo, director of the economy and construction unit of Poyang Finance Bureau, arrived in Canada with his wife and two daughters late last month.
The newspaper Global Times reported Monday that Mr. Huabo was under investigation and police are now trying to trace his location in Canada.
The report says that the money Mr. Huabo is alleged to have embezzled was to be used for agricultural infrastructure, such as farmland renovation and reservoirs construction.
Mr. Huabo is alleged to have collaborated with other suspects, using bogus official seals and false invoices to transfer public funds from a local Rural Cooperative Association to an account of a company they had owned since 2006.
The Xinhua News Agency says five suspects had been detained as of Sunday afternoon.