Such inspection tours and the scripted praise handed out by senior party officials are widely seen as indicators of influence.
Sichuan Hongda Group is also the largest shareholder in Liu Han’s flagship listed company, Sichuan Jinlu. The second-largest shareholder is an entity that manages local government assets in the province, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Liu Han himself is a member of Sichuan’s advisory body.
Those political ties may have meant that when Liu went shopping for assets in Australia he felt able to pledge backing from state banks.
Insider Trading
The feel-good gloss soon wore off.
In September 2011, Australia’s securities regulator froze the assets of Hanlong’s Xiao as part of a probe into insider trading in companies including Sundance and Bannerman. He later fled to China, leaving his wife behind after she surrendered her passport to ensure he returned. Xiao and others allegedly transferred profit of A$1.2 million to Hong Kong, and the money hasn’t been found, a Sydney court heard in December.
Former Hanlong executive Calvin Zhu was last month sentenced to 27 months in prison for the offense. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission also said on its website that it’s investigating other people associated with Hanlong and won’t make further comments on that probe.
A month after the insider trading allegations aired, in October 2011, Liu’s financing pledges began to fray.
CDB wanted “additional due diligence” before committing to finance the Bannerman deal, the Australian company said in an Oct. 24, 2011, stock exchange filing. “No further engagement has occurred with Hanlong since that time,” it said Sept. 25. CEO Len Jubber declined to comment when contacted during a business trip to Canada this week.
Never Know