‘Abusive email pest’ Cheng Fan faces new electoral fraud charges

A Sydney businessman has been charged with electoral fraud and harassment after allegedly sending abusive and racist emails about Dave Sharma and Kerryn Phelps.

Sydney businessman Cheng Fan. Picture: Jane Dempster

A Sydney company director has been charged by federal police with electoral fraud and harassment after allegedly sending abusive and racist emails about Liberal MP Dave Sharma and his political rival Kerryn Phelps.

Blacktown man Cheng Fan was initially charged in 2020 after the AFP investigated his actions following a tip-off about offensive emails sent to voters in the NSW seat of Eden-Monaro concerning Labor candidate Kristy McBain.

Government officials have confirmed Mr Fan has now been hit with further charges relating to Mr Sharma and Dr Phelps.

The charges come after Mr Sharma, the Liberal MP for the Sydney seat of Wentworth, hired a former Israeli intelligence officer to help identify the source of the allegedly racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic emails.

On Tuesday Mr Fan, 34, defended himself, claiming he was “peacefully” expressing his political opinion.

“Implied freedom of political communication (is) protected by (the) Constitution of Australia,” he told The Australian as he walked to his lawyer’s office, covering his face with a mask and hoodie.

“Nobody should be jailed for expressing a political opinion peacefully. Nobody.”

He was originally charged ­following a raid on his Blacktown home last year, with police alleging he sent emails to voters in southern NSW falsely claiming Labor’s Ms McBain would not be contesting the Eden-Monaro by-election due to catching Covid-19.

The emails, which claimed to be from the Catholic Church, urged voters to support Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs.

Police, who described the email campaign as “offensive and harassing”, then laid further charges in April this year after investigating the report from Mr Sharma who said the emails represented an “interference in the democratic process”.

“It is clear to me that these emails are intended to influence voters and corrupt our democratic process, and as a result I take them very seriously and condemn them absolutely,” Mr Sharma said at the time. “This person is just trying to sow discord and division.”

Mr Sharma said the emails appeared to have been sent by someone with technical knowledge. “The perpetrator, who appears to be a single individual, has changed servers multiple times, usually signing up for free trials in order not to disclose payment and other identifying details,” he said.

Wentworth MP Dave Sharma. Picture: Joel Carrett

Former Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps. Picture: John Appleyard

“Using sophisticated analytical tools, we have identified a number of email addresses and phone numbers we believe to be associated with the perpetrator, and which should aid in their identification. We have passed these details and other results of our investigation on to the Australian Federal Police for appropriate further investigation and action.”

The Chinese-born Mr Fan, who is the director of registered company Ejtera Pty Ltd, will face Penrith Local Court for a committal hearing on Friday, where he is expected to enter a plea to 34 charges of fraud and harassment for ­offences dating from February 2019 to July 2020.

According to court documents obtained by The Australian, police will allege Mr Fan possessed several passport details of Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Bangladeshi, Filipino and Australian residents, with the intention of using them to commit fraud.

He also had details of several NSW drivers licences. When questioned about the documents, he refused to comment.

Mr Fan is on strict bail conditions under which he must report twice-weekly to police, surrender his passport and not enter an international airport. He is also banned from contacting anyone in relation to the Eden-Monaro by-election, and can’t use a computer unless it is for his work.

Last November, the property at which he was bailed was transferred to a person named Ying Yuan, believed to be his wife.