Hermes handbags, multiple properties and a $24,000 Rolex: Alleged ‘unexplained wealth' of woman charged with foreign interference
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged the Chinese national – who is also an Australian permanent resident – last week after search warrants were carried out at Canberra residences.
She has been remanded in custody after being denied bail by the ACT Supreme Court. Police allege she was tasked by China's Public Security Bureau with spying on an Australian-based Buddhist group Guan Yin Citta.
Court documents released on Monday and originally reported by the ABC and the Australian included a list of items allegedly found in her home, among them at least six Hermes bags, with a receipt showing one of them had cost $30,000, and further handbag boxes which police claimed were 'too numerous' to count.
Police claimed they found about $5000 in $100 bills and the receipt for a Rolex. The statement to the court also alleged the woman wholly or partly owned multiple properties and vehicles.
They also reportedly found goods from other luxury brands, including Burberry, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Redacted lines did not reveal all the items allegedly found but referred to a receipt for one item worth $400,000, the Australian reported.
Police alleged in the reported documents that the woman had been paid more than $230,223 by the People's Republic of China since 2017.
The documents claimed the woman – who came to Australia on a higher education visa – had travelled to China, where she had family and held an active passport, on 'several occasions in the past several years'. She allegedly travelled to a region, Jindong, where she received 'taskings' from a spy handler.
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