$100,000 cash in envelope for NSW Labor from billionaire Chinese property developer

The Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo allegedly gave $100,000 in cash to the former head of the NSW Labor Party, Jamie Clements, a NSW corruption inquiry heard on Monday.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry is beginning six weeks of public hearings to investigate whether NSW Labor received money from illegal sources.

A key witness in the hearing said Mr Huang, a billionaire property developer, visited Labor Party headquarters in 2015.

It was when he allegedly handed $100,000 in cash to then NSW Labor General Secretary Jamie Clements.

There have been varying reports as to whether the cash was in an envelope or an ALDI plastic bag.

In 2014 and 2015 the cap on political donations was $5,700.

The OPERATION AERO hearing is investigating whether the $100,000 donation was disguised as a series of $5,000 donations, made during a Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner.

The ABC reported the commission was told one witness, Quanbao Liao, took his own life in 2018 before giving evidence to the ICAC.

Quanbao “Leo” Liao, of the Chatswood property developer firm Wu International, left a suicide note, telling his family he had been visited by detectives.

“I have decided to leave this world, which is also my last hardest attempt, to prevent you and our daughter from becoming family members of a criminal.

"This is because I am still innocent at the time I wrote this letter,” he wrote in a letter.

The hearing is set for six weeks. ICAC has released the witness list for its upcoming public inquiry into allegations concerning political donations to the NSW Labor Party. General Secretary of NSW Labor Kaila Murnain and former NSW Upper House MP Ernest Wong will appear among others.

Earlier this year the billionaire property developer Huang Xiangmo lost his permanent residency status for reasons including character grounds.

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