Report: China leader seeks probe into 'hidden riches'

[NewsCaster]

Sukree Sukplang / ReutersChina's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, seen here in Laos on Sunday, has requested an inquiry into a New York Times report that his family amassed a fortune while he was in power.By Reuters HONG KONG -- China's ruling Communist Party has launched an internal  inquiry into allegations made by The New York Times that the family of Premier  Wen Jiabao accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches", the South China  Morning Post said on Monday.   Wen himself asked for the inquiry in a letter to the Politburo Standing Committee -- the party's top decision-making body of which he is also a member -- in an apparent move to clear his name, the Hong Kong newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

Lawyers for the Wen family have rejected The New York Times' October 26 report, which said corporate and regulatory records show Wen's mother, siblings and children amassed most of their wealth since Wen became Vice Premier in 1998. Their holdings include construction, insurance and development companies, the paper reported.

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