Cr Badalati also acknowledged that a month before the trip he and Cr Hindi had been at a dinner hosted by Wensheng Liu in Sydney's Chinatown,where he was photographed next to the developer and investor as an identical agreement between the pair was signed.
A week after the international trip,Crs Hindi and Badalati rejected planners'advice at a Hurstville council meeting and voted in favour of adding five more storeys to Wensheng Liu's proposed 11-storey tower on Treacy St,Hurstville. The council also accepted a modest financial offer that accompanied the amendment. The pair again made no declaration about their links to either of the Lius.
The pair were then the only two of five panelists to vote for the site moderation as part of the Sydney East Joint Regional Planning Panel on May 4. The application was ultimately refused.
Vince Badalati,applauding at rear left,at the Tangshan ceremony in China.
At the April 20 council meeting,they also voted to approve a planning proposal from One Capital,another of Mr Liu's companies,to change the zoning of a block on Forest Road,Hurstville,where it was signalled a hotel,shops and apartments would be built. They voted to increase the maximum height and floorspace ratio of the development beyond what an internal report recommended.
The pair also later voted favourably on that development proposal,called the Landmark Square Precinct,during council and committee meetings under the newly-formed Georges River Council,including putting forward a recommendation before the Environment and Planning Committee in June 2018 to scrap affordable housing at the site. This resolution had been passed in August 2017,while the council was in administration.
Following theHerald'sinquiries,a spokesperson for Georges River Council said it was investigating the pair for alleged misconduct.
TheHerald also understands Crs Hindi and Badalati have been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption,as well as the NSW Office of Local Government.
An ICAC spokesperson said the body could neither confirm nor deny whether it had received referrals about or was investigating particular individuals.
Cr Hindi,who successfully appealed against a two-month suspension for misconduct in 2016,did not return calls from theHerald.
Both development projects have since stalled after One Capital and GR Capital went into administration last year,with a November 2018 report by administrators BRI Ferrier saying that it appeared the directors had left the country"and generally failed to assist us with our enquiries as they were required to do,which will be reported to ASIC."
According to an affidavit of Yuqing Liu,who recently won court proceedings against GR Capital over an unpaid $10 million loan,Wensheng Liu introduced him to Cr Badalati in his office during a visit to Australia in March 2016.
"I can introduce the mayor of Hurstville to you,” Wensheng Liu is alleged to have said while discussing investment prospects.
Cr Badalati said he and Cr Hindi went to Tangshan off the back of an open invitation to view Xinfeng's facilities.
"They had the signing ceremony there but basically it was to look at the power station that was using kitchen waste,” Cr Badalati said.