Zhou Yongkang mistress profited by at least US$4.5m through affair with jailed Chinese security chief, says report

A 51-year-old businesswoman was a mistress of the jailed former security czar Zhou Yongkang and profited from their relationship by at least 30 million yuan (HK$35 million) by reselling illicit distribution rights to natural gas, according to an investigate report by a newspaper in China.

Li Xiaomei, who comes from Nanjing, has disappeared from public view since August 2013 and her case is now “going through the judicial process”, The Beijing News reported.

READ MORE: China’s disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang jailed for life over graft

Li was described as the least known and most mysterious of Zhou’s former mistresses, according to an unnamed source cited by the newspaper.

Zhou was jailed for life in June for corruption and abuse of power and is the most senior government official to fall during a massive crackdown on graft in China.

Li allegedly acquired the rights to sell a consignment of natural gas in 2004 with the help of Jiang Jiemin, a former senior energy industry official at the state-run oil company CNPC and a close ally of Zhou. The rights were obtained by breaching regulations, the report said.

She allegedly made a personal gain of more than 30 million yuan by reselling the rights, according to the report.