The hidden past of the billionaire family who hosted Anthony Albanese at their Point Piper mansion has now been revealed. (Reuters/Domain)
The fortune of Australian billionaire Phillip Lee, whose son recently hosted a Labor fundraising dinner attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has been linked to major corruption scandals involving members of his family in China, an ABC investigation has found.
The ABC can reveal Mr Lee is the son-in-law of a disgraced Chinese transport official who steered expressway construction contracts at an inflated price in southern China's Guangdong province to Mr Lee's company in the 1990s.
A Chinese court in 2005 found the project cost was inflated by more than 100 million yuan ($21 million), pushing the total price tag to more than 180 million yuan ($37.6 million), at the expense of the public purse.
Mr Lee has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to his father-in-law's actions.
The revelation comes as scrutiny intensifies over the family's wealth after Mr Lee's 25-year-old son, Felix, hosted Mr Albanese, former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, and bank executives at the family's Point Piper mansion, known as Mandalay, last month.
The luxury property was purchased outright by Phillip Lee and his wife, Shi Xiaobei, for $39.9 million in 2015.
The dining area inside the Point Piper mansion where Mr Albanese was hosted for an exclusive dinner. (Domain)
The three-level European-style mansion offered Mr Albanese panoramic views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from its marble balcony, but there was a problem.
The Sydney mansion has previously been the subject of asset-freezing orders, after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) pursued the couple over claims of more than $278 million in unpaid tax in 2021.
The ATO obtained court orders freezing the couple's Australian assets.
The orders covered 17 residential, commercial and rural properties, Star City Casino accounts and luxury vehicles including a Bentley, a Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Porsche Cayenne.
The Lee family denied any wrongdoing and later reached a settlement with the ATO for an unknown sum.
Under that settlement, a Commonwealth charge remains registered over their properties, including Mandalay, until the debt is repaid in full.
The Lee family residence, Mandalay, has sweeping views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. (Realestate.com.au)