A corruption inquiry has found that a gambling account funded by the Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo-funded suffered an AU$100,000 cash withdrawal at Sydney’s Star Casino only six days prior to the NSW Labour Party bank a same-size money donation.
According to the documents which the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has received, the money transaction was flagged as suspicious by The Star Casino on April 3rd, 2015, after a business manager at the property development company headed by Mr Huang, Yuhu Investment Holdings, withdrew a large amount of money. Then, the money was left in an automobile that was later proved to have been owned by Yuhu.
Currently, some leading members of the NSW Labour Party are facing investigation because of alleged involvement in a 2015 scheme aimed at circumventing the NSW legislation under which political donations were not allowed to property developers. According to accusations, the scheme was used in order for Mr Huang to be able to illegally donate AU$100,000 in cash to the state’s Labour Party.
According to allegations heard by the local regulatory body, the aforementioned cash amount was delivered by Mr Huang to the former general secretary Jamie Clemens on April 7th, 2015.
Gambling Junket Used to Circumvent NSW Political Donations Prohibition for Property Developers
As mentioned above, exactly AU$100,000 in cash was banked by the NSW Labour Party on April 9th. So far, both Mr Huang and Mr Clemens denied that the money came from the property developer.
Reportedly, some property developers used members of the Chinese community to disguise the cash’s actual source and avoid the prohibition for such donations to political parties in the state of New South Wales. Today, Kevin Houlihan, the group investigations manager of The Star, testified that a total of AU$5 million had been provided by Mr Huang to establish a gambling junket at The Star Casino on April 3rd, 2015.
Wun Chi Wong, who served as a business manager at Yuhu Investment Holdings, was also the operator of the above-mentioned junket. He has resided in Hong Kong since his permanent residency visa in Australia was ceased on December 5th, 2018 and has refused to testify at the ICAC’s hearing. He is facing a Tax Office pursuit for AU$140 million due to allegedly unpaid tax and penalties associated with the sale of a Hong Kong-based mansion.
Public hearings regarding the source of the AU$100,000 started at ICAC in August 2019 and went to an end today. The regulatory body is set to provide its official report after a while.
According to financial records, a total of AU$100,000 in cash was withdrawn from the gambling account at the casino by Mr Wong on April 3rd, 2015. As revealed by The Star’s group investigation manager, it was a usual practice for the casino to cash out large amounts of money in AU$100 notes.
- Author
Olivia Cole
