An Australian politician under investigation for corruption admitted Wednesday (Oct. 14) that he was involved in a scheme that allowed Chinese nationals to obtain visas fraudulently and received envelopes stuffed with cash in his parliamentary office as a result.
Daryl Maguire, who resigned from the New South Wales Liberal Party in 2018, agreed with the Independent NSW Anti-Corruption Commission’s allegation that the scheme in which Chinese citizens paid large sums of money to a New South Wales business to pretend they were employed by the company was a scam.
Maguire and his business assistant, Maggie Wang, were paid up to A$20,000 (US$14,000) per business solicited for the company. He agreed that the practice was a violation of the public trust.
During questioning on Tuesday, Maguire admitted to another allegation that he had tried to use his position as chairman of the Australian parliament’s Asia Pacific Friendship Group to benefit from a series of Chinese business deals in Australia.
The former senator also admitted that the company he served as a silent director for (G8Way International) advertised that it had access to the “highest levels of government” in Australia and China to facilitate business deals. However, he told the Inquiry that the company did not make any successful deals.
The investigation learned that the company brokered a deal to sell wine that included co-labeling bottles with the Australian Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of China (ACPC) and the parliamentary Asia Pacific Friendship Group.
The Australian Committee for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification with China is a branch of the China Council for Promoting Peaceful Reunification (CCPPNR), which is part of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
The United Front Work Department, which is responsible for promoting the CCP’s influence overseas, has come under scrutiny for alleged political interference in Australia.
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