December 2020
- Opinion
- Rear Window
Bakehouse sale: who pays for $11m secret fee?
A Hong Kong company has taken a half share of Yuhu's Bakehouse Quarter, but what did it pay for?
- Neil Chenoweth
January 2020
Yuhu's quick, quiet tower sale leaves millions on the table
Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo is facing a battle with the ATO after selling another property.
- Ingrid Fuary-Wagner, Angus Grigg and Neil Chenoweth
December 2019
- Exclusive
- Corruption
ICAC mystery donor is behind fraud case against defector
The case the Chinese government is using to discredit defector Wang Liqiang throws new scrutiny on alleged meetings between Huang Xiangmo and Wang's spy boss.
- Neil Chenoweth and Angus Grigg
November 2019
- Exclusive
- Foreign relations
ICAC asking fresh question about China's influence
The corruption watchdog is investigating $35,000 given by Huang Xiangmo to former NSW ALP boss Jamie Clements.
- Angus Grigg and Neil Chenoweth
ICAC links Simon Zhou to mystery $50,000 donation
Questions were raised last month about the 2016 donation during an inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
- Neil Chenoweth, Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
International body suspends anti-money laundering law evaluations
A global anti-money laundering taskforce has suspended evaluations of financial crime laws mid-way through an examination of Australia's progress in the area.
- Edmund Tadros, Angus Grigg and Neil Chenoweth
Beijing's sharp power targets a Sydney council
Communist Party fingerprints were all over the show of support for Ryde deputy mayor Simon Zhou on Tuesday.
- Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
Pro-Beijing groups mobilised to support embattled Ryde deputy mayor
Supporters of Simon Zhou at council meeting convened to vote on his job were not from a local community group as their signs suggested but from the Hubei Homeland Association, which has links to the Chinese consulate in Sydney.
- Angus Grigg, Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth
Race card played at heated Sydney council meeting
A local council meeting descended into farce when the Labor mayor of Ryde used his casting vote to save his own job.
- Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- China
Sydney deputy mayor went to Communist Party training camp
Simon Zhou spent eight days at a Communist Party training course in China just weeks before becoming a Labor Senate candidate at the 2016 federal election.
- Angus Grigg, Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros
Sydney deputy mayor had Beijing endorsement
Simon Zhou, who has been referred to ICAC over links to billionaire Huang Xiangmo, was backed by the Communist Party for his Senate run in 2016.
- Angus Grigg, Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
Dirty money spotlight on estate agents
Australia is set to receive another black mark for its lax anti-money laundering laws, putting renewed pressure on the federal government to force real estate agents to report suspicious sales.
- Edmund Tadros, Angus Grigg and Neil Chenoweth
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
Huang Xiangmo's property fire sale as ATO circles
The controversial Chinese billionaire's Australian asset sell-down could total $1.1 billion if he's able to quickly offload a North Sydney office tower.
- Ingrid Fuary-Wagner, Neil Chenoweth, Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
Deputy mayor hid $13m stash of property
The deputy mayor of a Sydney council, who has already been referred to the NSW corruption watchdog, failed to declare nearly $13 million of property-related transactions during his first year in office.
- Neil Chenoweth, Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
Huang Xiangmo calls for investigation into himself
Federal authorities are looking into an $11 million side payment made by Huang Xiangmo's Yuhu group as part of broader investigations into the billionaire.
- Angus Grigg, Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
How $11m vanished in Huang Xiangmo property deal
The payment, facilitated by lawyer Sevag Chalabian as part of a $380 million deal, has "many of the hallmarks of a money laundering scheme", says a forensic investigator.
- Angus Grigg, Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros
Labor mayor referred to ICAC could be gone by next week
The Sydney mayor and his deputy referred to NSW's corruption watchdog could be forced to stand aside as early as next week.
- Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Foreign ownership
Sydney real estate agent under scrutiny over four trophy homes
As property prices rise once again, the federal government and real estate agents are under pressure to better enforce foreign buying.
- Angus Grigg, Edmund Tadros and Neil Chenoweth
NSW Labor headquarters reported for possible data breach
A potential data breach by Ryde mayor Jerome Laxale is adding to his woes regarding a possible investigation by the corruption watchdog over a planning decision he made.
- Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros
- Exclusive
- Huang Xiangmo
Huang Xiangmo's mystery $1.2b man
Two years ago Zhang Bo, 32, was living at Wolli Creek with a view of the airport. Now he owns six houses in Sydney's Mosman worth $37 million, but lives in none of them.
- Neil Chenoweth, Angus Grigg and Edmund Tadros