Yunxiang Gao: Chinese actor claims he was duped by Australian property developer
A Chinese film star found not guilty of raping a woman in a Sydney hotel claims he was duped by an Australian property developer who promised he could secure him bail in return for $2.2 million.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Chinese movie star acquitted of raping a woman in a luxury Sydney hotel claims an Australian property developer duped him by charging $2.2 million to secure him bail when the foreigner was first arrested.
In March Yunxiang Gao and producer Jing Wang were found not guilty of attacking a crew member at the Shangri-La Hotel after a jury accepted the woman willingly joined their threesome after a TV series wrap party in 2018.
Now Mr Gao and his high-profile actor ex-wife Michelle Dong Xuan are being sued by Adib Faress and his property development company SRSA for $1.4 million in alleged unpaid service fees, which also included managing jail visits, security and the media.
But Mr Gao, who speaks no English, claims the developer preyed on his ignorance of the Australian legal system when he first floated the “unconscionable bargain”, the Supreme Court heard.
MORE NEWS
Dad ‘booby-trapped’ burning home before Sydney beach death
Bondi cafe king sentenced over $150m cocaine plot
Top Sydney brain surgeon cleared of beating wife
When the celebrity was first charged in March 2018, Mr Faress visited him at Long Bay prison to secure “this very unusual agreement for a very large sum to be paid to a non-legally qualified person to assist in obtaining bail”, Justice Desmond Fagan said.
“There will be issues raised by (Mr Gao) as to whether the agreement was procured by undue influence,” he said on Monday.
Mr Gao paid $800,000 to Mr Faress, who is now in Italy, the court heard.
His company is currently not actively trading, holds no real property assets, and has only one linked bank account which has a $395.50 overdraft, Justice Fagan said.
SRSA is also being sued by private lender Capital Bridging Finance over a $143,000 debt stemming from a loan worth more than $1 million.
Mr Gao hired real lawyers and was released on bail in June 2019, but Mr Faress had tried to help find a Sydney property that could be used as a surety, the court heard.
Justice Fagan said the actor has now returned to China and “for obvious reasons won’t want to come back to this country” for the estimated four-day civil hearing.
The judge also gave Mr Faress a one-month deadline to pay a security for Gao’s estimated $240,000 legal costs should SRSA’s lawsuit be unsuccessful, otherwise the entire case will be struck out.
Justice Fagan said there was a lack of detail in SRSA’s statement of claim and slammed its “reprehensible failure” to comply with the court’s directions for more information.
