Rich-list Wu family allegedly ‘misled’ taxman over Nature’s Care sale

The Wu family has been accused of misleading the Australian Taxation Office when they sold their vitamins company Nature’s Care in 2018.

Jina Chen (second from right) and Alex Wu (far right) in a promo shot from a charity event they once donated to, via Nature’s Care.

Rich-listers Jina Chen and Alex Wu have been accused of misleading the tax office about the sale of Nature’s Care in 2018 during an audit, prompting authorities to freeze $206m of their family assets, a court has heard.

The wealthy family, from Taiwan but based in Sydney, have been embroiled in a stoush with the Australian Taxation Office since selling a 75 per cent stake in the successful vitamins company they founded in 1993 to Chinese owned entities JIC Nature and Caymanian Tamar Alliance Health, and keeping 25 per cent for themselves.

Federal Court judge Tom Thawley released a judgement in the matter during a hearing on Wednesday, summarising allegations made against the Wu’s and declining to grant their request to keep parts of it secret.

“The respondents failed to declare their income from the proceeds of selling shares in Nature’s Care (a reference to Australia Nature’s Care Biotech Co Ltd) through their British Virgin Islands entities,” he said in his judgment.

“The respondents have a history of failing to disclose their assessable income.

“Alex Wu and Jina Chen, by their contentions made during the audit, sought to mislead the Commissioner in relation to the true nature of transactions that were examined during the audit.”

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The judgement was published off the back of a media challenge to the court’s decision not to release key documents in the matter.

The Australian’s request to access copies of those documents, including affidavits filed by the ATO, was lodged on December 21 last year but was denied.

It was revealed the family argued key evidence filed by the ATO should be kept secret from the public because the Wu’s could be exposed to scams and fraud, they would suffer negative impacts to their business and personal reputations, media reporting had injured their mental health and they were concerned for their safety.

The ATO is chasing debts of more than $200m in tax liabilities, and in aid of recovering the debt the commissioner asked the court to freeze the family’s assets.

They were concerned about a “dissipation of assets” if freezing orders were refused.

“The Commissioner did this, in part, by asserting that the respondents had engaged in dishonest conduct and evasion and by revealing detailed information about various transactions and the respondents’ conduct, movements and business associations,” the judgement read.

Ultimately, Justice Thawley decided to suppress parts of the ATO’s evidence because the Wu family will not have the opportunity to contest the allegations contained in them in open court.

Matriarch Jina Chen and her husband Alex Wu, who have children Michael and Jack Wu, were worth an estimated $658m.

It comes after news Nature’s Care was placed in receivership, with BDO emerging as managers following an unresolved default under Nature’s Care Group’s senior banking facilities in August 2023.

“The receivers and managers are undertaking an urgent assessment of the business, with the intention to stabilise the business and facilitate a restructuring or competitive sale process in due course,” a statement from BDO read.

Andrew Sallway, Jeff Marsden and Duncan Clubb of BDO Australia were appointed as receivers and managers of “certain property” of Nature’s Care Holdings Pty Ltd, the statement said.

The Wu’s were accused of acting as “shadow directors” of Nature’s Care and attempting to regain control of the company in a separate NSW Supreme Court fight.

They were stopped from acquiring lenders’ interests under a syndicated facility agreement with Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) bank.

Under the lender’s agreement, money was due to be repaid in August but wasn’t, and Nature’s Care remained in default. The company sought to refinance, but the Wu family blocked the move.