One of the photos, courtesy of Nandu Daily

An investigation is being launched in Zhaoqing’s Duanzhou district after a woman claiming to be an official’s mistress published nude photos of him online and alleged he embezzled public funds and is involved in gambling, China Daily reported yesterday.

The paper has more:

The findings about Du Weijun, director of the Duanzhou district bureau of culture, will be made public, the authorities said.

The nude photos have been forwarded to the Guangdong provincial department of public security for further identification, according to the report.

The woman who published the photos said Du promised he would dump his wife to marry her, gave her more than 20,000 yuan ($3,252) a month as an allowance and used money he embezzled to operate a company. Du left her for another woman thus she wanted revenge so reported him, she said.

This is the latest of many nude photo scandals that have involved government officials in China. Earlier this month, the vice president of a Chinese school training Communist Party officials was suspended for his involvement in a sex scandal after nude photos of him appeared online.

There but for the grace of God go many others. Broadly speaking, the five ways of dealing with a nude photo scandal are to deny it, ignore it, embrace it, apologise for it, and leverage it. E online has the full guide.