A Chinese government official convicted of corruption channelled at least $1.2 million to his family in Sydney, in the clearest example yet of how Australia is being used as a safe haven for illicit funds.
Documents released by a Beijing court show the bribe was paid into the Australian bank accounts of Su Guanlin and his wife Qian Yi.
They are the son and daughter-in-law of disgraced railway official Su Shunhu, who last Friday was convicted of corruption in China and jailed for life. As part of the bribes, the younger Su was also paid more than $2 million by a company associated with his father and the couple received generous wedding gifts.
Over the past four years, they have bought and sold houses and apartments worth around $4.5 million across Sydney, according to property searches.
According to the US-based non-profit group Global Financial Integrity, $US2.8 trillion ($3.2 trillion) was spirited illegally out of China between 2005 and 2011.
The Australian Federal Police said it regularly co-operated with Chinese authorities and had worked with them on drawing up a priority list of targets.
A spokesman said the agency had “no information to offer” on Su’s case.
Su was convicted of abusing his position as deputy chief of the railway ministry’s transport department by accepting 25 million yuan ($4.7 million) in bribes paid in cash, bracelets, diamond jewellery and gold bars.
According to the judgment released by the court, Su’s lawyer defended his client by arguing he was not “evil-minded” and had not squandered the money. Rather, he had used most of it to pay for the education and living costs of his son and daughter-in-law.
Property searches reveal the younger Mr Su and Ms Qian bought a house in Killara for $1.35 million in April last year. Neighbours said the property, which is slated for demolition and a $500,000 rebuild, had been vacant for months.
They also sold a property in Breakfast Point last year for $2.5 million and are linked to a $550,000 apartment.
They appear to have bought an apartment in Wolli Creek off the plan in October 2010 for $400,000.
At a Chinese wedding the passing of red envelopes to the bride and groom is customary. They are usually filled with a few hundred dollars in cash to celebrate the marriage but, at the 2008 wedding of Su Guanlin and Qian Yi, two gifts were far more generous. The first contained 100,000 yuan ($18,200), a present that would have filled at least 10 red envelopes. The second was a more compact $US10,000 ($11,400).
While substantial, these two wedding gifts were just the beginning of what Su, the son of a powerful Chinese railway official, would receive during his time in Australia.
After his father, Su Shunhu, was sentenced to life in prison for corruption by a Beijing court last Friday, an investigation by AFR Weekend has pieced together the money trail between China and Australia.
Using court documents from the trial, along with property and company searches in Australia, it provides the first detailed account of Australia’s status as a favoured destination for the funds of corrupt Chinese officials. Court documents show the money began flowing to Australia in the months after Su and Qian were married.
They reveal that $1.2 million was transferred to their Australian bank accounts between December 2008 and January 2010.
The money was wired to Australia from both the industrial city of Nanchang, south west of Shanghai, and Hong Kong in 16 separate instalments.
Since it began landing in Australia, the couple have bought and sold around $4.5 million worth of property in Sydney.
Their situation is not unique.
The Chinese government has repeatedly raised concerns about Australia’s popularity with corrupt officials in its state-run media. After Australia expanded its Significant Investor Visa scheme earlier this month, the Chinese government specifically warned Canberra not to create a safe haven for corrupt officials.
Over the past decade, those officials have been drawn to Australia’s political stability, clean air and robust legal system, which provides some of the strongest protection for individuals facing criminal charges anywhere in the world.
This flow of money out of China has reportedly boosted demand for houses, filled universities and fuelled spending on luxury goods right across the Australian economy. But the party may be coming to an end as Chinese authorities and the Australian Federal Police increase co-operation to seize and repatriate the proceeds of crime.
Former senior railway official Su Shunhu has been sentenced to life in prison for corruption.
The Chinese are calling it “Operation Fox Hunt” and the numbers involved are staggeringly large. The Washington-based Global Financial Integrity group has estimated that $US2.8 trillion flowed out of China illegally between 2005 and 2011.
Now let's not get carried away here. Potentially, a corrupt official has slipped through (if we believe what is being said from China) and the Su family deserve the benefit of doubt. This does not have to turn into a witch hunt.
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