Was there a link between a large amount of cash withdrawn from a casino player account and a subsequent political donation of the same amount?
That’s the question before the New Zealand Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which is reviewing a withdrawal of $100,000 from the gambling account of billionaire developer Huang Xiangmo in April 2015. Less than a week after a courier removed the money from the Star Casino in Sydney, a cash deposit of the same amount—also in bundles of $100, and similarly wrapped—was deposited into an account held by the New South Wales Labor Party.
The Star reported the transaction as “suspicious.” The ICAC is investigating allegations that senior Labor Party figures, including former general secretary Jamie Clements, attempted to sidestep the state’s ban on political donations from property developers.
Huang allegedly delivered the cash to Clements in a plastic Aldi bag on April 7, 2015, and it was banked by the NSW ALP on April 9. Clements and Huang have denied the property developer was the source of the funds, according to CDC Gaming Reports, but the former general secretary conceded that the billionaire once gave him a wine box containing $35,000 in to cover his legal bills and flew him around on his private jet during his time as party head. Clements was run out of office in 2016 amid allegations of sexual harassment.
Huang now lives in Hong Kong. His Australian permanent residency visa was cancelled last December “for reasons including character grounds,” CDC reported, and he has declined to give evidence at the ICAC.
After Clements left office, the wealthy developer gave him a $4,000-a-week job that lasted from 2016 to 2019. The job included “a variety of services,” Clements said.
The inquiry is ongoing.
