Sydney restaurateur Valentine Yee avoids prison over false ICAC testimony
Sydney restaurateur Valentine Yee has avoided imprisonment after pleading guilty to two counts of giving false or misleading evidence at a public hearing of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The court imposed a two-year community correction order on the 52-year-old Yee.
As ABC News Australia reports, the case was heard following ICAC hearings in 2019 concerning a 100,000 Australian dollar donation to NSW Labor by billionaire property developer Huang Xiangmo.
False testimony about donations
Yee initially told the commission that he had donated 5,000 Australian dollars to Labor using so-called “lucky money.” He later admitted that he had signed a false declaration to conceal the true origin of the 2015 donation.
According to Yee, he was helping his brother Jonathan, who at the time headed the Chinese Friends of Labor organisation. Judge John Sfinas said there were two false statements: concerning a sham 5,000 Australian dollar donation and a 10,000 Australian dollar donation from the Emperor’s Garden restaurant.
The maximum penalty for giving false or misleading evidence to ICAC is five years’ imprisonment. The judge took into account Yee’s remorse, his lack of a criminal record, the lower seriousness of the offences, and the length of the criminal proceedings. At the same time, he stressed that false testimony before ICAC can hinder the detection of corruption.
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Other figures in the investigation
The defence said that Yee received no personal benefit and acted out of misguided loyalty to his brother. His lawyer also said that his client had corrected his evidence before the commission.
As part of the investigation codenamed Operation Aero, To Yap and Lei Mo were also sentenced this year. Yap received a two-year community correction order in July, while Mo was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment in April, to be served under an intensive correction order.
Jonathan Yee has been charged with a number of offences, but has not yet entered a plea of guilty or not guilty. Valentine Yee’s mother, Mei Ho Yee, has also been charged with giving false or misleading evidence at a public hearing.
Valentine Yee’s parents own and operate the Emperor’s Garden restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown, which ceased operations this month. The Australian Taxation Office is seeking to recover an alleged tax debt of more than 845,000 Australian dollars from the restaurant company. Yee declined to comment after leaving court.
