Shanghai High People's Court announced on Friday that it was investigating a claim that several senior judges of the court had solicited prostitutes after a video was posted online.

The nearly 10-minute long video clip was initially posted on Youku, a video sharing website, on Thursday and was reposted on Sina Weibo on Friday. It showed five males, who were identified by the original poster as judges in Shanghai High People's Court getting cosy with several young women at a resort in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on June 9.

The hotel's camera allegedly showed five sexily dressed women entering the rooms of the judges late at night before exiting about half an hour later, with several stuffing money into their bras. 

The whistle-blower named two of the five judges as Chen Xueming and Zhao Minghua, respectively court chief and deputy chief judge of the No.1 civil trial court.

The report also exposed Zhao and his family as owning at least four properties worth millions of yuan in Shanghai.

The whistle-blower, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times that he asked his friend to post the video for him as he didn't have the IT skills to do so.

"I just want these corrupted judges who ruined my life and family to be brought to justice," he said. The whistle-blower refused to provide any more evidence of the grievances he had with the judges.

He added that he had received anonymous threatening phone calls but was determined to provide any new evidence to the police to help with their investigation. 

Although the whistle-blower refused to say how he acquired the video, he claimed to own two hours of complete footage which would inculpate the judges.

The high court published an official announcement late afternoon on Friday, saying it was aware of the report and had launched an investigation. Sources at the court said the judges would face serious punishment if the report was found to be true.