August 20, 2026 — 12:32pm
A Chinese businessman who disguised $20,000 cash in a gift box of breakfast tea in a bid to speed up his solar company’s applications before Australia’s Clean Energy Council was heard saying he knew it was “against the law”.
Guoxin Zhu, 40, who worked for Growatt, a Chinese-based renewable energy company, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The court heard Zhu had organised to meet with an official from the council at a cafe in Camp Hill, in Brisbane’s south, in July when he handed her a gift of tea, which also contained the cash.
The council’s manager reported the offending promptly, the court heard. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
