Chen Zhenggao, a member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee, clearly has enemies.

While Chen was visiting Hong Kong last year, his adversaries were preparing a detailed dossier on his travel and entertainment spending. Soon after the visit, mainland businessmen passed the documents to Reuters.

Among the materials was video surveillance footage of the powerful politician, then the governor of China's Liaoning province, stepping out of the plush Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong on the evening of April 24, 2013.