Bridal jewelry china as for wedding gifts

A Chinese 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 -Bridal jewelry china as for 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.

But Ms Qian, a 29-year-old accountant, insists the properties have nothing to do with her father-in-law. “Everything we own is in our name,” said Ms Qian when contacted by phone. “It’s ours. It has nothing to do with him.”

Su’s conviction comes as China ramps up its international co-operation efforts to weed out corrupt officials who have sent their assets or fled -overseas in a campaign dubbed -“Oper-ation Fox Hunt”.

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.

At the time, China’s railway freight development had not kept pace with the country’s rapid economic growth, leading to capacity shortages.

As a result, the railway ministry, which has since been dismantled, became a magnet for corruption.

MONEY ‘GIVEN’ TO SON, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
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. “I am an accountant and my -husband is working for a wholesale company,” said Ms Qian. “We’re both working and doing things. We’re not just waiting for money to be handed to us.”

However, according to the court -documents detailing the case against the elder Su, money was handed to the young couple while they were living in Australia.

When AFR Weekend visited the younger Mr Su and Ms Qian’s property in Killara, it was abandoned.

The garden was overgrown and mould had started climbing the -external walls. An industrial steel fence fastened with a rusty bike lock blocked access to the palm tree-lined pool area.

A neighbour, who declined to give her name, said it had been more than two years since she last saw the couple at the home.

“It’s such a shame what’s happening to the place,” she said. “It used to be in good shape and they’ve just let it go to rack and ruin.”

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