Inside the complex web surrounding Sydney’s $95m trophy home

Point Piper local John Changjin Li has long relied upon highly complex corporate structures – and romantic arrangements – in order to call one of the Sydney’s most expensive houses his own, and that was before the appointment of liquidators further complicated things.

Li’s estranged wife Maria Meihong Yang, who recently had her ultimate ownership of the $95 million property reaffirmed by NSW Supreme Court orders, said on Friday it was a creditor’s voluntary liquidation given the property’s ownership entity, Point Piper One Pty Ltd, was insolvent.

In the latest chapter of the ownership of the Edgewater trophy home, the liquidators have been appointed.DomainBut just who is to be the ultimate creditor to benefit from the property is a matter of multiple, ongoing Supreme Court disputes, as well as half a dozen mortgages spread across the various titles of the landmark residence.

Adding to the complexity is that the first mortgagee on the title of half of the property, Initium Capital, also went into liquidation in June.

There was no comment from the appointed liquidators Antony Resnick and Henry Kwok, of DVT Group.

John Changjin Li was called to give evidence in a Federal Court liquidator examination late last year, one of a dozen legal battles involving his Sydney property empire.Steven SiewertThere has never been anything simple about John Li’s claim on the property known as Edgewater. From the start, the $95 million purchase in 2020 was structured on settlement terms that extended to three years for the bottom half of the property and five years for the upper level apartment.

Not helping Li’s endeavours to own the residence has been his lack of Australian citizenship, and the fact that it is in part financed by his former wife Athena Changren Cheng, who was unaware that it was to be a matrimonial home to Li and Maria Yang.

John Li and Maria Yang’s 2020 marriage was also a big surprise for his daughter Rose Zhirou Li, and their friends and family in Australia: none of them were told that the couple had married until the legal fight over the property made its way to court a few years later.

Maria Yang was not aware that she had become the owner of the property at the time of the marriage, later telling the court she only discovered Li had purchased it – with her name as the ultimate owner – when she read about it in this masthead. The $95 million deal was the second-highest house sale in Australia.

Two years later, the marriage was over, although they are yet to divorce and are estranged. Li has long since moved into the property with his former wife Athena Cheng also in residence, albeit in a separate apartment.

Maria Yang and John Li’s stoush goes back to 2022 when she discovered that her 100 shares in Point Piper One had been transferred without her consent.

In the Supreme Court proceedings over that matter, Yang’s ownership was reinstated, but the legal stoush was financed by MHN Asset Management, which claims it was promised 45 of Yang’s 100 shares.

However, those 45 shares were not transferred to the legal finance firm. Instead, records show that two days later, Yang’s 100 shares were forfeited, and Edgewater’s ownership was again restructured to restore ownership to three companies in John Li’s control.

Sharing in the labyrinthine ownership structure were John Li, with a controlling interest, Maria Yang and close friend and associate Nina Sokolov, a real estate agent from the Northern Beaches.

Edgewater was built as a single residence in 1985 but was later converted into a duplex. It boasts one of the few waterfront tennis courts on Sydney Harbour.DomainEdgewater last sold in 2020 for $95 million, making it one of the most expensive residences in Australia.DomainMaria Yang’s shareholding in the company was reinstated in her name alone three months ago, but the shares are subject to freeze orders while the proceedings between her and MHN continue.

Meanwhile, Yang’s two-bedroom apartment in Zetland that she purchased in 2017 for almost $1.3 million is also subject to freeze orders.

There is also a claim on title to the tax man. When Point Piper One was restructured with John Li as part owner, it triggered a tax debt given his status as a foreigner. The tax bill totalled $26 million late last year, but the status of it remains unknown given the change in ownership since and no comment from John Li.

Raine & Horne agent Nina Sokolov is John Li’s preferred agent, selling all the properties owned by his investment companies.Kate GeraghtyThe Office of State Revenue maintains a caveat on title.

John Li’s woes are not limited to his Sydney address. He and Athena Cheng’s majority-owned gold mine in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan region has been sealed by the authorities since 2021.

Cheng is also facing complications in her business affairs. A recent liquidator examination in the Federal Court revealed that after she moved to Australia in 2019, she was listed as a dishonest debtor by the Chinese authorities and slugged with consumption restriction orders aimed at limiting any high-value spending to enforce a debt recovery.

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