Australia’s Taxation Office has attempted to nail an exiled billionaire out of China’s Huang Xiangmo, for tax evasion.
The Taxation Office has reached out to casinos in Australia to find out whether the billionaire had funds in accounts owned by the venues and, through investigations, the independent commission against corruption uncovered unusual findings.
They found an account for the billionaire at Sydney’s Star Casino. They found that there had been a considerable withdrawal that followed a donation of a similar amount to New South Wales’ labor party.
As stated on calvinayre, about $68840 was withdrawn on the 3rd of April 2015. This withdrawal flagged by the casino as being suspicious and was carried out by a manager who works for Huang Yuhu Property Development Company. After cashing out, the person also left behind an audit that was found to be linked to Yuhu Investment Holdings.
Then, about six days later, the South Wales Labour party got a donation amounting to the same value. There has been a lot of talk on the fact that Huang offered Jamie Clements, the party’s general secretary at the time, a bag full of cash. Officials think the money was dished out as part of a vast scheme meant to bypass rules and regulations that restrict property developers from issuing donations to any political party.
These allegations are strengthened by several affidavits that were made available by several individuals from the Chinese community. These affidavits assert that the sources of the money was tasked with operating as straw donors to hide the real source of the funds. They also made false statements stating that the funds originated from then during friends of Labour funds drive one month prior.
Huang, based on an investigation by Kevin Hulihan, The Star manager, gave out more than $3.44 million as junket funding for the venue in Sydney, with the agreement that the venue would begin operations on the 3rd of April.
On the same date, an associate of Huang, Gary Wong, withdrew the money from an account run by the casino, and the payment was made available in $100 notes. The money was then delivered to the party head office about six days after that in the same denomination.
Clements also stated that he was not issued any money; however, he did accept wine from the taxpayer, and potential fraudster.
Nevertheless, he did even admit before the ICAC that he got $24000 in a wine box, money that he used to settle legal bills. He also stated that he did not inform the labor party about the donation.
In the recent past, casinos in Australia have come under fire for what is considered questionable dealings. For instance, Corwin Resort has been linked to rigging as well as organized crime. The casino has also been under the watchful eyes of regulators, who are concerned that the casino has been letting people with questionable backgrounds access its services. The Star is currently under the scrutiny, and there no telling what else they are hiding.
