Australian court orders student to repay mother nearly $5m
A Chinese student, Allen Xu, 29, has been ordered by an Australian court to repay his mother, Jiyun Ma, almost $5million and two properties after squandering a large portion of the roughly $18million she gave him to invest in Sydney real estate. The Supreme Court of Victoria and a subsequent Court of Appeal both rejected his claim that the money was a gift, ruling largely on the strength of remorseful WeChat messages in which Xu admitted the funds were never his and called himself "a greedy person, a dishonest person, an immoral person, and a very bad person".
Ms Ma, who has never visited Australia, began sending money in 2020 to help her son qualify for a business investment visa and fund his studies, later transferring nearly $2million for a Haymarket property and a further $11.1million in nine instalments between July 2021 and May 2022 to be invested on her behalf. Instead, Xu spent the money on cosmetic eyelid surgery, luxury goods, a car and an apartment in Wentworth Point, while misleading his mother about a bank account he had opened in his own name rather than his father's. When Ms Ma discovered the deception in mid-2022, Xu drafted apology messages with his uncle's help, confessing to lying about the funds and admitting he had no right to the money.
- Court orders student to repay mother nearly $5million plus two properties.
- He spent her $18million property investment funds on surgery, luxury and property.
- WeChat confession admitting the money wasn't his sank his "gift" defence.
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Chinese student Allen Xu, 29, was taken to court in Australia by his own mother, Jiyun Ma, who accused him of misusing money she had sent him. Ma, who lives in China and has never visited Australia, had transferred roughly $18million to her son from 2020 onwards, intending it to help him qualify for a business investment visa, fund his studies, and be invested in Sydney property on her behalf.
Xu argued the money had been a gift and was his to spend, while his mother maintained it was hers and that he was simply managing it for her. The case turned on evidence including WeChat messages in which Xu appeared to admit he had spent the funds improperly and that they were never his to keep.
The dispute matters because it went through Australia's court system, first in the Supreme Court of Victoria and then on appeal, highlighting how family money sent across borders for property investment can end up in formal legal disputes when trust breaks down between relatives.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Chinese student’s stunning admission after he blew a fortune on a life of luxury and cosmetic surgery after his mum gave him a breathtaking $18million to invest in Sydney real estate: ‘Greedy, dishonest, immoral’”.