Chinese Directors Linked to MP Bribery Scandal Banned From Running Companies for 5 Years

The ASIC found that the Chinese couple failed to comply with Australian Taxation Office requirements and breached company laws.

Former NSW MP Daryl Maguire arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court, in Sydney, Australia on Sept. 1, 2025. AAP Image/Steve Markham

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has banned two Chinese company directors from running a business for the next five years after finding they failed to comply with tax requirements and breaching company regulations.

The five-year period is the maximum the Commission can impose under current Australian Taxation Office (ATO) law, and means they are ineligible to run a company until after Dec. 18, 2030.

Jimmy Yang (also known as Jimmy Liu) and his wife and co-director, Freda Feng, controlled three failed companies in the agriculture sector—UWE Hay, United World Enterprises, and UWE-Griffith Property.

Yang was also a director of SMU Holdings, a business and personal services company.

The ASIC found that Yang and Feng both failed to act properly and meet their obligations as company officers, including failing to maintain adequate books and records, ignoring ATO obligations, failing to prevent UWE Hay and United World Enterprises from trading while insolvent, and using their positions to withdraw company funds from UWE Hay’s bank accounts “without explanation for the use of the funds.”

The couple was also found to have misused their director positions by sponsoring a work visa in exchange for United World Enterprises receiving a loan.

When the companies eventually went into liquidation, they owed more than $56.8 million (US$45.77 million) to creditors, including $110,862 to the Australian Taxation Office, unpaid wages to former staff, and significant amount of money to a range of small businesses in central New South Wales’ (NSW) agricultural sector.

According to ASIC, Yang also used UWE Hay’s funds to “offer incentives” to former NSW state MP for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire.

Yang’s Connection to Former NSW MP

The connection between Yang and Maguire came to light after the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) recorded a number of phone calls between them.

Maguire was, at one point, in a relationship with then-premier Gladys Berejiklian, which drew her into the scandal. The ICAC later found that Berejiklian had engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” by failing to disclose the relationship between her and Maguire , but no criminal charges were laid.

By then, Berejiklian had resigned and was later hired for a senior role by telco Optus.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian walks to speak to the media as she departs the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 1, 2021. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

During the inquiry, Maguire admitted to using his taxpayer-funded staff, email, and facilities for his business deals and receiving large sums of cash at his office. The money was associated with a scheme to secure Australian visas for Chinese nationals.

ASIC did not take action in 2018, when UWE Hay was placed in administration, which effectively allowed Yang and Feng to transfer its assets to another company, Riverina Hay.

A former general manager at the company, grain trader Steven Foote, told the ABC in 2021 that he'd observed “a lot of lies, a lot of deceit, a lot of anger, a lot of turmoil.”

He eventually quit and gave evidence to the ICAC about UWE’s dealings with Maguire. According to Foote, UWE faked invoices, tax claims and financial records in order to illegally receive millions of dollars from taxpayers in GST and income tax fraud, while regulators failed to act.

In addition, the former manager alleged that Maguire helped promote UWE’s interests within local councils and the NSW government, acting as an “enabler” for the company.

Yang was also allegedly connected to a $46 million investment scheme by a China-based aged-care provider, Haiquan, which sold properties on his farm, Currabubula Station, to 900 pensioners in China. The scheme never eventuated, and investors lost their money.

Yang eventually sold the station, which he bought for $7.5 million in 2015, for $8 million in 2019.

Meanwhile, Maguire was found guilty of giving false or misleading evidence to the ICAC in June 2025 and, in August of that year, was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

The disgraced MP has since been charged over an alleged visa and migration fraud that took place while he was an MP. He pleaded not guilty in October 2025 and was expected face trial in June 2026.