Chairman of Chinese securities firm dismissed following graft probe

China's top discipline body says the chairman of a state-owned securities firm has been dismissed for padding his expenses and spending public money to publish his poetry.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Wednesday that Long Zenglai also was removed as the Communist Party chief for China Investment Securities.

The amounts of money Long was accused of misusing were small by Chinese standards. A commission statement said he overbilled the firm 159,100 yuan ($25,600) for banquets and spent 17,921 yuan ($2,900) to publish his poetry.

A former member of the ruling party's inner circle, Zhou Yongkang, was sentenced last week to life in prison on charges he took 130 million yuan ($21 million) in bribes and caused 1.4 billion yuan ($229 million) in losses of public money.