As investigators closed in on Cao Jianliao, the powerful vice-mayor of China’s fourth-largest city, one of his close associates fled the country for New Zealand.
Tan Bingzhao, a New Zealand citizen and prominent property developer in the city of Guangzhou, is alleged by Chinese investigators and state-controlled media to have paid huge bribes to Mr Cao and his relatives in order to buy land cheaply and win contracts.
Mr Tan remains in New Zealand, out of reach of the Chinese authorities, according to Chinese media reports. He could not be reached for comment and associates of his in New Zealand refused to comment or reveal his whereabouts.