In Australia, a Chinese citizen pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe someone with $20,000
Chinese citizen Goshin Zhu pleaded guilty to attempting to transfer $20,000 in cash—hidden in tea tins—to expedite the processing of his company’s applications for accreditation of solar panels and batteries in Australia. The Brisbane Magistrates Court sentenced him to 12 months in prison but suspended the sentence after he had served 26 days in custody, according to ABC News.
Zhu, 40, worked as a senior manager at Growatt, a Chinese renewable energy technology company. The company had submitted several applications to the Clean Energy Council for the accreditation of its products in Australia.
In early July, Zhu arrived in Queensland on a business visa and met with a representative of the Clean Energy Council in Camp Hill. During their first meeting, he asked to expedite the review of the applications and offered money in exchange, but was told that this was unacceptable.
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During the second meeting, Zhu gave the representative a gift. The representative initially refused to accept it, but Zhu insisted that it contained only tea. When the gift was opened, $20,000 in cash was found among the cans of tea.
Police prosecutor Bimal Raut stated in court that the bribery attempt was premeditated, as Zhu realized the money would not be accepted directly. Magistrate Peter Saggers noted that Zhu’s goal was not to obtain accreditation, but to move Growatt’s applications up the queue for review.
The court also heard that, upon his release, Zhu could be placed in immigration detention pending possible deportation. He had intended to pay for his own flight back to China.
