Corrupt cadres

Did China's central bank accidentally reveal a report that crooked officials fled the country with $125 billion in embezzled cash over the past 15 years? Hard to say for sure. But Chinese internet users and news media outlets are having a field day with the figures and the report that revealed them, which may have been mistakenly posted online by the People's Bank of China.

The report, which is still widely available but not on the central bank website, says as many as 18,000 corrupt officials from all reaches of government absconded slid the money out of China over a decade-and-a-half spree.

The news came as a surprise in a country where official corruption is widely recognized but less often talked about.