A former north China mayor and his wife concealed about 300,000 U.S. dollars in bribe money in a safe deposit box in a Buddhist temple, hiding the key in a Buddha statue's ear, a court heard Monday.

Xu Guoyuan, former mayor of Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is accused of taking bribes worth more than 1 million U.S. dollars.

Investigators found Xu had accepted 4.1 million yuan (600,000 U.S. dollars), 540,000 U.S. dollars, 10,000 euros and a villa worth 3.8 million yuan between 2001 and 2007, the court heard.

His wife, Li Minjie, is alleged to have helped conceal some of the money in an unnamed temple in southwest China's Yunnan Province with the assistance of the temple abbot, said prosecutors.

Xu took the bribes mostly from managers of real estate companies and granted them preferential treatment in building residential compounds and a reservoir as well finding jobs for their relatives, prosecutors said.

He also allowed a mining boss surnamed Wang in 2004 to purchase a lead smelting factory with favorable environment protection and tax policies.

Xu also had property worth more than 2 million U.S. dollars from unknown sources, the Intermediate People's Court of Baotou City heard.

The trial continues.

Source:Xinhua