Top End owned by corrupt officials

Corrupt Chinese officials retreating to Australia targeted in joint China-Australia police operations.

Corrupt Chinese officials who fled to Australia with an estimated $1 billion in bribes and embezzled money are about to be targeted by an unprecedented joint China-Australia police operation.

In China they are known as the naked officials: trusted public servants who fleeced millions from the Chinese state then moved to the West to reinvent themselves as self-made billionaires.

Tracking down these corrupt officials is the latest phase in the Chinese government's ferocious anti-corruption campaign, code-named Operation Fox Hunt.

Joint investigations have already begun with police in a number of Western countries, including the United States.

The Australian Federal Police will start their joint operation next month, beginning with the seizure of assets of seven Chinese nationals, all of them on Beijing's Top Most Wanted list of fugitives.

Managing director of the China Market Research Group Shaun Rein said many of the corrupt officials had retreated to affluent communities in the West.

"A lot of communities in California, it's all former officials' families living in $10-20 million mansions, and the question comes: how exactly did they get that money?" Mr Rein said.

"In Sydney a lot of the $10, 20, 30 million properties, similarly, are being bought by Chinese with connections to officialdoms.

"These people are not the buyers that a lot of Australians had hoped for ... they are really corrupt.

"They are not necessarily the type of business people that you want in this part of your community."
Australia tax haven for corrupt officials

China's highly influential business magazine, Caijing, said Australia had become a favourite bolthole for corrupt Chinese officials and businessmen.

Mr Rein said Australia's taxation authorities were relatively lax compared to other countries like the US.

"A lot of the corrupt officials feel that Australia's not quite as aggressive, either [in] trying to get personal income taxes or investigating.

"A lot of these officials will keep several identities; they're never really reporting their taxes to anyone appropriately."

Mr Rein said Chinese president Xi Jinping's anti-corruption crack-down was very serious.

"He's getting a lot of these ill-gotten assets back from corrupt government officials and their families who fled to scare the current officialdom, because even if you retire and leave the country, we will come after you."

The Australian Federal Police have yet to explain how they propose to extradite the targeted Chinese fugitives, or seize allegedly stolen assets that have long since been laundered through legitimate business ventures.

"There is no doubt the move to prosecute people who've had their snouts in the trough is a popular move," David Goodman a professor of sociology at Nanjing University China said.

"What worries me is the extent to which there are checks on the behaviour of the state in both cases.

"In China in particular, there is a whimsical element to the state, and in Australia, there is a climate of deep suspicion in some places about Chinese investment."

https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25310605/corrupt-chinese-officials-retreating-to-australia-targeted-in-joint-china-australia-police-operation/

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Interesting times ahead, see how this will play out especially with the Significant Investor Visas. Would not expect those with 5-15 million AUD to "invest" in Australia from China would be very "clean"

We will be seeing how many people the FIRB have "missed", hopefully these corrupt officials will likely be rounded up like the "terrorists" have been and assets frozen.

Would this cause a drop in the top end of the market?

P.S. Admin could you change the title to : Operation Fox Hunt?
 
Well when you abuse your position to steal from your fellow countrymen, that's pretty despicable. Not to mention it's a developing country and a lot of kids are starving.
 
Not to mention it's a developing country and a lot of kids are starving.

A developing country which has been one of only three countries to put several astronauts in space.

I grant you, putting people in orbit is easy enough. But bringing them home alive, now that's much, much harder.
 
China escalates Fox Hunt by freezing forex accounts

China escalates Fox Hunt by freezing forex accounts

Chinese authorities are freezing the foreign exchange accounts of Chinese individuals sending money to Australia who are suspected of corruption.

The development comes as China?s Ministry of Public Security announced operation ?Fox Hunt?, a campaign against corrupt officials living overseas, has netted 180 suspects in just over three months.

A Sydney-based foreign exchange dealer told AFR Weekend Chinese authorities have frozen the account of a Chinese client conducting business between China and Australia.

?When they freeze an account, it?s not just one, but usually a whole series of accounts that we use,? the foreign exchange dealer said.

?So in this case, the authorities froze the client?s foreign exchange account, the local group?s settlement account and a separate account used by local brokers.?

All accounts blocked by Chinese authorities were domiciled in China. Chinese authorities are unable to access Australian accounts, even if they belong to Chinese citizens.

The dealer spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears the event would scare other potential clients from using the company. It is the first time in the mid-sized company?s trading history any account has been blocked, he said.

?Freezing accounts is happening more and more in China; it?s picking up in intensity and frequency particularly as the status of people being taken down in investigations keeps rising,? he said.

On Thursday China?s Public Security Ministry said on its website that 104 people have been arrested and 76 have surrendered since Fox Hunt was launched on July 22. The officials had fled to more than 40 countries.

China has sent out lists of names to police in other countries and has also said it would be more lenient towards corrupt officials who turn themselves in by the end of the year. The statement makes no mention of Australia, although notes China has asked for help internationally and that has been met with a positive response.

The Australian Federal Police insists it is not formally part of Operation Fox Hunt. However, an AFP spokesman *confirmed last week it regularly co-operates with Chinese authorities and had worked with them on drawing up a priority list of targets.

The Australian Financial Review on Friday revealed that Gao Xinyuan, the son of China?s most famous fugitive Gao Yan who is alleged to have stolen millions of dollars of state assets, set up two companies and purchased a development site in Sydney?s Neutral Bay.

A week earlier, the AFR revealed Su Shunhu, a Chinese government official convicted of corruption and jailed for life, channelled at least $1.2 million to his family in Sydney. His son and daughter-in-law in Sydney have bought and sold houses and *apartments worth around $4.5 million across Sydney.

Source AFR here

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Developing Neutral Bay property and trading Sydney property, what creative way of accounting for millions of stolen yuan.
 
So this is all happening now, I've always been wondering, will this affect the property market when thousands of Off-The-Plan units un-sold or cannot be settled due to this issue? I've seen way too many rich kids getting a loan with overseas income and overseas buyers buying areas they don't even know where it is. And they don't just buy one or two, they buy 5 units at a time...............

I don't understand why would you pay million dollar to live in a unit:eek:, when you can live in a decent 2 storey house just 20-30mins away from the CBD with the same amount of money:confused:
 
A developing country which has been one of only three countries to put several astronauts in space.

I grant you, putting people in orbit is easy enough. But bringing them home alive, now that's much, much harder.

Twins .... With the one child policy it would be an option ...;)

Cliff
 
So this is all happening now, I've always been wondering, will this affect the property market when thousands of Off-The-Plan units un-sold or cannot be settled due to this issue? I've seen way too many rich kids getting a loan with overseas income and overseas buyers buying areas they don't even know where it is. And they don't just buy one or two, they buy 5 units at a time...............

I don't understand why would you pay million dollar to live in a unit:eek:, when you can live in a decent 2 storey house just 20-30mins away from the CBD with the same amount of money:confused:

One issue is that overseas buyers can only buy new . Helps boost the economy by building new properties , and when the crash comes or they have their money taken off them it will provide cheap PPOR's for first home owners who where frozen out of the market ....

Cliff
 
So this is all happening now, I've always been wondering, will this affect the property market when thousands of Off-The-Plan units un-sold or cannot be settled due to this issue? I've seen way too many rich kids getting a loan with overseas income and overseas buyers buying areas they don't even know where it is. And they don't just buy one or two, they buy 5 units at a time...............

I don't understand why would you pay million dollar to live in a unit:eek:, when you can live in a decent 2 storey house just 20-30mins away from the CBD with the same amount of money:confused:

They buy 5 units at a time because that is probably the amount that would be enough for each batch of funds their parents transfer into Australia. Chinese corrupt officials will try to use their children to buy properties. Children on temp visas will just buy new apartments, those who already got their perm. visas will just attend auctions and do ridiculous overbidding. Those who don't trust their kids will apply for Investor Visas.

Check out the massive bribes they are getting in the recent reports below, all that money has to go somewhere.
China Seizes Record $33 Million in Cash From Official's Home

China Property Officials Felled by Love of Haute Couture

I wouldn't be surprised if properties like Sydney's Altona were snapped up by the likes of these people. They are probably partly responsible for the massive spike in property asset prices in major capital cities in London, Canada, Singapore and most recently Australia and USA(especially areas in California like San Francisco)
 
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So this is all happening now, I've always been wondering, will this affect the property market when thousands of Off-The-Plan units un-sold or cannot be settled due to this issue? I've seen way too many rich kids getting a loan with overseas income and overseas buyers buying areas they don't even know where it is. And they don't just buy one or two, they buy 5 units at a time...............

I don't understand why would you pay million dollar to live in a unit:eek:, when you can live in a decent 2 storey house just 20-30mins away from the CBD with the same amount of money:confused:

Because they can only buy OTP...
 
They buy 5 units at a time because that is probably the amount that would be enough for each batch of funds their parents transfer into Australia. Chinese corrupt officials will try to use their children to buy properties. Children on temp visas will just buy new apartments, those who already got their perm. visas will just attend auctions and do ridiculous overbidding. Those who don't trust their kids will apply for Investor Visas.

Check out the massive bribes they are getting in the recent reports below, all that money has to go somewhere.
China Seizes Record $33 Million in Cash From Official's Home

China Property Officials Felled by Love of Haute Couture

I wouldn't be surprised if properties like Sydney's Altona were snapped up by the likes of these people. They are probably partly responsible for the massive spike in property asset prices in major capital cities in London, Canada, Singapore and most recently Australia and USA(especially areas in California like San Francisco)

That makes a lot of sense, hence I'm now holding onto my cash and wait for the fall to happen to pick up a fair price property in Sydney :D
 
I don't think this will curb their appetite for Australian property. Rather, the opposite may well happen i.e. the harder it is to get money out of China, the more desirable it becomes and the higher price they're prepared to pay. Remember, the money has to get out at any cost so it's just a matter of being even more inventive.

I also think that the number of people being charged is very small (relatively) considering that most mid to senior positions in the Party, government and SOEs, as well as some lower positions, would be involved in corruption of some kind. Considering that most of them would have bought their positions at some cost they have to recoup their investment somehow, which in essence is a self-perpetuating mechanism.

From http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/10/31/china/chinas-anti-corruption-drive-party-tactic-preserve-power

The clandestine buying and selling of office, on the other hand, is a clear indicator of corruption. In Inner Mongolia, local party directorships and government planning positions have been trading for about $1m each.

Elsewhere, management positions in local city police forces were available for about $60,000 each, positions in the prison system for about $10,000, and school principal posts for between $20,000 and $200,000, depending on a school?s potential for under-the-table graft.

Until recently, senior positions in the military were selling for more than $100,000 a post. The purchased positions corrode party and military command structures.

Lastly, the current anti-corruption campaign will have to slow down at some stage as the number of political enemies they're able to strike dwindle. It needs to be said that the people in charge of the anti-corruption drive (and their masters) are likely to be corrupt themselves, so they will only shake the tree to the extent that it doesn't get uprooted and causes them to fall with it.
 
Real estate agents back crackdown on illegal foreign home buyers

As revealed in The Australian, the committee has recommended tough new fines for illegal buyers, a data-matching program between immigration and investment authorities and application fees of up to $1500 for foreign investors to fund enforcement.

The committee report, tabled by chairwoman Kelly O?Dwyer, shows these fines would also be applied to real estate agents, accountants, lawyers and conveyancers that knowingly assist in illegal purchases, exposing them to hefty penalties in the event of getting caught. And any capital gains from properties that are found to be illegally bought and undergo a compulsory sale would be retained by the government, under the recommendations.

Real estate agents back crackdown on illegal foreign home buyers

Looks like Sydney and Melbourne market will get hit if this gets enforced.

There will be many looking to dump their properties too before they get into trouble, especially if capital gains would be retained by the commonwealth.

Let's see what Joe Hockey actually ends up doing.
 
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So pick up some top end properties on the cheap?

There is a boy at my son's school just arrived from China, they have just bought a $2 million plus house in Kew, drive a brand new Merc E63.

Husband is still in China of course, when asked what he does - "runs his own business", won't tell me what sort of business it is, from what my wife can understand from his Mum they paid cash for the house.

Even if you have a successful business in China how much does it take to have that sort of cash sitting around? i.e yuan vs AUD?

There was an article on that young Chinese couple in Sydney recently that had bought a whole lot of properties with corrupt money from their dad who was a railway official. On the other hand I am sure there are lots of others such as my mother in law (who has a factory in China) who have honest hard working businesses. My parents live in Balwyn which has gone crazy with Chinese buyers wanting to send their kids to Balwyn High. They get offers all the time for their place which is on a big block.
 
The Treasurer said he was open to boosting the enforcement efforts of the FIRB but did not comment on other recommendations. ?If FIRB needs to be fixed, we will fix it,? Mr Hockey said.

ROFL...
 
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