BEIJING -- Lu Enguang, a former ministerial-level official of the Ministry of Justice, was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for faking personal documents, buying official positions and bribery.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement Thursday that an investigation of Lu, former member of the leading Party group within the ministry, found that he had provided fake information regarding his age, his family members, his education and employment background and documents for joining the CPC.

He was also found to have used money, personal connections and lobbying to "buy official positions and honorary titles along the way" and which enabled him to rise "from a private enterprise owner to a vice ministerial-level official," according to the CCDI.

The statement said Lu had been simultaneously acting as an official and a businessman controlling multiple enterprises and had sought benefits for these enterprises via dishonest means.

He was also found to have offered significant amounts of money and gifts to state officials to obtain promotions to official positions and benefits in business operations.

The statement accused Lu of resisting the investigation.

The CCDI said Lu's values were "severely twisted" and his actions have seriously violated the Party's code of conduct and involved criminal acts.

Such acts have tarnished the image and the personnel selection system of the CPC and undermined the "political environment of related regions and units," the CCDI statement said, noting that "the circumstances were serious."

His dishonestly obtained honorary titles will be revoked and his suspected crimes and illegal gains will be transferred to judicial organs, according to the CCDI.