Court grants tax office a freeze on $200m in assets connected to vitamin company founders’ family
About $206m in property and bank accounts connected to vitamin empire millionaire couple Alex Wu and Jina Chen, plus their two sons, has been frozen by a court.
The Federal Court has granted the tax office freezing orders on more than $200m of assets connected to four members of the richlist Wu family.
Federal Court judge Nye Perram ordered Alex Wu, Jina Chen, Michael Wu and Jack Wu to not “dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of your assets in Australia … up to the unencumbered value of $206,881,641.68 other than to make payment to the commissioner of taxation”.
The orders were made at a hearing without notice in court on Wednesday.
Brief details of the freezing order were made available late on Wednesday, and stipulated “assets” for each of the four family members “whether they are in your name and whether they are solely or co-owned”.
Jina Chen and Alex Wu are little-known founders of vitamin company Nature’s Care, ranked at 195 in this year’s The Richest 250 with an estimated wealth of $658m.
Their sons, Michael and Jack, also sold their shares in the business and have since bought into Hive Gaming – a platform for e-sports athletes.
Justice Perram stated the assets that money should not be removed from include properties such as the family’s Ingleside mansion.
Other properties located in Killara and Hornsby in NSW, as well as bank accounts with Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac, and companies including Nature’s Care Holdings, AJMJ Global Investments and Vital Global Investments, among others are also listed in the order.
All four members of the family face “imprisonment, sequestration of property or other punishment” if they disobey the order or fail to act within the time set out.
“Any other person who knows of this order and does anything which helps or permits you to breach the terms of this order may be similarly punished,” the order reads.
Justice Perram issued an individual notice to all four members of the family which starts with: “This is a ‘freezing order’ made against you on 20 December, 2023 by Justice Perram at a hearing without notice to you.”
Orders that the amount of $206,881,641.68 not be removed from any of their assets are identical across each of the notices.
The Wu family is still permitted to pay up to $5000 per week on ordinary living expenses and up to $50,0000 on “reasonable” legal expenses, the order for each family member stated.
It also said it would “cease to have effect” if the amount of $206,881,641.68 were paid to the court or into a joint bank account in the name of their lawyer and the applicant’s lawyer, being the ATO, if “agreed in writing”.
At the time of filing the orders, it appeared they had not been served on the Wu family, as Justice Perram ordered the ATO to “as soon as practicable” provide members with the freezing order, affidavits, exhibits and other written submissions.
The court ordered copies of initiating documents be served to the family members or anyone located at properties at Ingleside and Milsons Point in NSW and to addresses in Taipei and the offices of PwC in Sydney.
An ATO spokeswoman said: “The ATO cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or entity due to our obligations of confidentiality under the law.”
A further hearing is scheduled for Friday in the afternoon.
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