Australian properties — including Tasmanian dairy farms, Sydney CBD apartments and even a Hilton hotel — have been secretly purchased by wealthy, sometimes controversial foreign figures, an ABC investigation has discovered.
The money came from a corrupt Chinese steel magnate, a political power couple in Sri Lanka and a former oil executive, via opaque corporate structures.
Each purchase involved multiple layers of offshore trusts and shell companies, making ownership almost impossible to track.
Unlike other countries, Australia lacks a register to show who ultimately owns property.
Continue
The money came from a corrupt Chinese steel magnate, a political power couple in Sri Lanka and a former oil executive, via opaque corporate structures.
Each purchase involved multiple layers of offshore trusts and shell companies, making ownership almost impossible to track.
Unlike other countries, Australia lacks a register to show who ultimately owns property.
Continue
