HANGZHOU - The father of a businesswoman jailed for life for illegal fundraising has been detained by police after the family accused a senior official in charge of organizing the seizure and sale of her illegal gains of acting corruptly.

The government of east China's Dongyang City said on Wednesday that Wu Yongzheng, father of Wu Ying, has been detained by the municipal public security department on suspicion of defamation and concealing Wu Ying's illegal gains.

Wu Ying is a high-profile figure in China since she was convicted in 2009 of cheating investors out of 380 million yuan (60.2 million U.S. dollars) in private lending scams. She was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was overturned and reduced to death with a two-year reprieve in May 2012.

On Tuesday, Wu Ying's legal representative, Lin Wencai, was detained by the local police on suspicion of defaming and attempting to frame Dongyang deputy mayor Chen Jun.

Last Wednesday, Lin applied to the provincial higher people's court and local government to block Chen from being involved in seizing and selling off Wu Ying's assets, a process required under her conviction.

Media reported on Saturday that Wu Ying had made an official accusation that Chen had asked her for bribes.

But on the same day, the local government said that the accusation had been investigated and proved untrue. Chen has already pressed charges over the matter.

Further investigation is under way.