May 22, 2026 — 3:53pmTwo of the figures at the centre of a years-old probe into a Labor Party scheme to circumvent donation laws will escape prosecution over charges they hindered an investigation for what it said were evidentiary and discretionary reasons.Seven years after the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Aero investigation found senior figures in NSW Labor laundered cash from prohibited donors in the lead-up to the 2015 state election, the three figures at the centre of the probe have never faced charges.Former NSW Labor MP Ernest Wong outside the ICAC in 2019.Rhett WymanThe Herald can reveal two of them – former NSW Labor MP Ernest Wong and Labor figure and restaurateur Jonathan Yee – will escape charges over allegations they hindered an investigation and, in Wong’s case, perverted the course of justice.Although the ICAC said charges for hindering an investigation would not proceed for “a mix of evidentiary and discretionary reasons”, the two men will face lesser charges for allegedly giving misleading evidence to the ICAC and procuring false testimony from a witness. They will appear before court next month.The ICAC said it was still “awaiting further advice” from the Director of Public Prosecutions over the third, NSW Labor’s former community relations director Kenrick Cheah.Operation Aero, which centred on a seven-week inquiry in 2019, heard NSW Labor figures used a series of straw donors to conceal the source of a $100,000 donation made by billionaire property developer Huang Xiangmo at a Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner in the lead-up to the 2015 election.The inquiry heard Xiangmo delivered $100,000 in cash in an Aldi plastic bag to former party boss Jamie Clements at ALP headquarters in Sydney.At the time, the ICAC found Wong and Yee were the architects of the plan, and that Wong had engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” in doing so because he was a member of parliament at the time. It found Cheah had allegedly helped them by faking documentation and then lying to the ICAC about it.Revelations that the two men will not face charges for hindering the investigation is the latest in a series of rapid-fire developments in a case which has remained largely dormant since the ICAC released its final Operation Aero report in 2022.Earlier this month, the Herald revealed the NSW Electoral Commission has reopened its investigation into a separate donations scandal linked to the three men after a former Labor official, David Latham, alleged Premier Chris Minns was involved in evading donations laws over cash received at a separate Hurstville fundraiser before the 2015 election.The premier vehemently denied the conversation took place, or any wrongdoing, when the allegation was made and when the Herald revealed the existence of the investigation.The Electoral Commission has been conducting a series of interviews over the fundraiser, including with Latham and Cheah, and has made four referrals to the DPP in relation to the matter. Two were in late 2023, and two were in March and April this year.The Herald is not suggesting the existence of an investigation, or referral, indicates any wrongdoing by Minns or any other Labor figure, only that the commission has been examining the allegations and has passed information onto the DPP.The Hurstville fundraiser, at the Sunny Harbour Seafood Restaurant in 2014, was raised during the same ICAC investigation. Public hearings during Operation Aero heard that both Wong and Yee were involved in concealing the source of about $10,000 in donations to Minns’ campaign.But it was not pursued by the corruption watchdog. Scott Robertson, the counsel assisting the ICAC during Aero, said at the time that his questions were not targeted at Minns’ conduct, but rather to “shed light on the conduct” of Wong, Yee and others.While prosecutions against some peripheral figures involved in the scandal have remained ongoing, Wong, Yee and Cheah have never faced prosecution.Next week, four people who were identified by the ICAC as among the straw donors will appear in court. They include three workers at the Emperor’s Garden Chinese restaurant, which was owned by Yee. The fourth is his mother. All four face charges of giving false or misleading evidence to the ICAC at a public inquiry.Jonathan Yee’s brother, Valentine Yee, pleaded guilty to giving false or misleading evidence to the ICAC in April.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners