Miao Li refused sex work licence to buy Moorabbin brothel Club Keys
A former sex worker has been knocked back from buying a Moorabbin brothel after revealing she used cash from “sugar daddies” to buy two properties while lying to the Australian Tax Office about her income.
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A former Blackburn brothel worker has used the financial help of her “sugar daddies” to buy two properties, and tried to buy a brothel while lying to the ATO about her income.
Miao Li’s dubious financial history has been revealed after the Business Licensing Authority refused to grant her a sex worker service provider licence so she could buy Moorabbin brothel Club Keys.
Ms Li took the ATO’s decision to VCAT, but the tribunal agreed the brothel manager did not qualify for a licence because she was “evasive” and “dishonest” at the hearing.
The tribunal heard in 2017 Ms Li told the tax office she had earned around $45,000 each year in 2015 and 2016, yet she had nearly $3.1 million of real estate in her name, put a $50,000 deposit on Club Keys, and had made yearly loan repayments of about $42,000 since 2016.
When her “opaque” financial situation was questioned by the tax office, and then the tribunal, she explained that she had been given hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial gifts from her parents, and also from two “patrons” in exchange for her sexual services.
Ms Li, who entered the sex work industry in 2011, said she had secured the two “patrons” — or sugar daddies — after she met them at a Blackburn brothel.
“I refer to two older men who in exchange for my sexual services reward me very handsomely indeed,” she told the tribunal.
She said one man had given her more than $200,000 over four years, while both had given her regular pocket money and taken her on trips overseas.
Despite Ms Li’s attempts to mask the extent of her ongoing involvement with one of the men, it was revealed at the time of the hearing in July she and her parents were living rent-free at a Malvern property he owned, where he stayed with them some nights.
The tribunal also heard the sugar daddy went to the bank with Ms Li and paid the deposit on the $2.2 million Box Hill property she bought in September 2015.
Ms Li also bought an off-the-plan Docklands apartment in August 2013 for $894,000.
Ms Li’s parents told the tribunal they had gifted her more than $400,000 up until 2018, while it was heard eight people living in China had transferred her various sums of up to $65,000 each.
As her past, present and future financial resources were questioned, the tribunal also heard Ms Li had earned money in China since she became a permanent Australian resident in 2014, but she had not declared the income.
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After investigating Ms Li’s application for more than a year, in May 2018 the tax office declined her licence application on the basis she failed to provide information required under the sex work act.
The refusal meant she would not be able to purchase Club Keys, where she had been working as the manager since October 2016.
Despite Ms Li’s protest, the tribunal on October 9 upheld the tax office’s ruling, with senior member Anna Dea saying she wasn’t convinced Ms Li would be able to pay for the business’ ongoing costs and loan repayments.
Ms Dea said she was also not satisfied Ms Li was a suitable person to work as a sex work service provider.
“She failed to display the openness and candour to be expected of a person of good repute having regard to character, honesty and integrity,” she said.