BEIJING: China's powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been arrested and put under a judicial probe after being expelled from the Communist Party, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported early Saturday.

Zhou, who retired from China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in 2012, “leaked the party's and the country's secrets,” Xinhua said, adding that the once-influential official was found to have “accepted a large amount of money and properties personally and through his family”.

The announcement makes Zhou the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four, a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong, were put on trial in 1980.

An official's dismissal from the party paves the way for a criminal prosecution which usually leads to guilty verdict at a trial, followed by a prison sentence.

Zhou became ensnared in President Xi Jinping's much-publicised anti-corruption drive in July when he was put under investigation for “serious disciplinary violation”.

Xinhua said the decision to expel Zhou was made “at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday”.

Zhou has also been “put under judicial probe”, Xinhua added.

Communist Party authorities have been waging an anti-graft campaign since Xi ascended to the leadership two years ago.

According to the Xinhua report, which cited a Politburo statement, Zhou “abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets”.

In unusually frank language, the official news agency also said that Zhou was found to have “committed adultery with a number of women and traded his power for sex and money”.

“What Zhou did completely deviated from the Party's nature and mission, and seriously violated Party discipline. His behaviors badly undermined the reputation of the Party, significantly damaged the cause of the Party and the people, and have yielded serious consequences,” Xinhua reported, citing the Politburo statement.