SYDNEY—The lawyer for Yang Lanlan, the mysterious Chinese heiress who has sparked major interest online, has complained about the drawn-out process of the case as the final step before a trial is pushed out to October.
The case involves a car crash that happened in the Sydney harbourside suburb of Rose Bay on July 26, 2025.
Yang was allegedly under the influence but failed to submit a breath test when she crashed her blue $1.5 million Rolls-Royce Cullinan into a Mercedes-Benz van owned by radio personality Kyle Sandilands.
His driver, the 52-year-old George Plassaras, suffered serious injuries including fractures to his spine, ribs, hip, and femur in the collision.
Yang was uninjured in the crash and granted bail after being charged with negligent driving, which she has pleaded not guilty to.
The 23-year-old Chinese woman has sparked major interest online and in China due to her seemingly wealthy lifestyle—luxury-branded clothes, Rolls-Royce, and an ocean-view penthouse in Sydney—yet there is almost no information about her identity online.
Some rumours have linked the wealthy woman to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
On Oct. 2, 2026, a readiness hearing will be held so that the parties can let the court know if everything is on track in Yang’s case.
But the drawn out process has proven frustrating for Yang’s lawyer, John Korn.
“I can understand if the if they were tied up ... but they’re not, and there’s no great traffic matters that have taken up time,” he told reporters outside the court house on March 31.
“I can’t think of any plausible, rational explanation for them to be taking this long.”
Korn said his counterpart in the prosecution had also been left in the dark around why the case was taking so long to progress.
“[Yang] would very much like, as we all would ... for this matter to be over and done with,” he said.
“It’s taken ridiculously, way too long. This is absurd how long this has taken.”
Korn said his client would have liked to have checked in on Plassaras, but didn’t want to turn up at the hospital unannounced, but attempts to arrange a meeting had gone unanswered.
Yang’s case will continue before the courts in October.
