"Zhao was hired and trained by a construction company to bribe Lei with sex, and she got paid 300 yuan ($48.20) per night for sleeping with him. It's common among Chongqing's construction companies to bribe officials in this way to get project approvals," Zhu said.
The video, filmed by Zhao with a hidden camera, was later used to threaten Lei by the construction company but Lei managed to get local police, led by then police chief Wang Lijun, to detain Zhao for a month and send the company manager to prison for one year, Zhu added.
Lei first denied the story after Ji posted shots from the video on Weibo, but Chongqing authorities later verified that Lei was shown in the film.
Lei tried to stop Zhu from spreading the video by using his connections in Beijing to threaten him with texts and phone calls, Zhu said. He informed the Chongqing police of the threats Sunday, and asked several lawyers for help in case something happen to him.
"I've given the police a copy of the video. They showed an interest in the case and were pretty nice to me," said Zhu, adding that he had made copies of the other videos and given them to people he trusts, so that they can stand up for him when something happens to him
The Chongqing municipal government's media office said Sunday on its Weibo account that the discipline inspectors would release an investigation result as soon as possible.
"I'd like to see the inspectors discover the corrupt officials on their own before I post further information," Zhu said, explaining he prefers working by himself as an independent reporter rather than cooperating with the government.
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