To freeze that $2000, Shu has used Garry McGrath SC for at least two days, plus solicitors’ fees, which together will have cost Shu more than $20,000. But don't worry, the legal bill will get to six figures soon enough.

The fraud that Shu is alleging has grown from the $955,000 that Shanghai police claimed, to more than $3 million.

And here's the thing. Shu is demanding repayment in Australia of a loan or investment made in China, apparently not with Wang but with Duoda Innovation Investment Company and its car import business.

It's not even clear if all of the money involved came from Shu.

In his affidavit Shu refers discreetly to “Wang’s boss” but does not name him. In fact Duoda is controlled by Xiang Xin, the Hong Kong businessman who Wang says was his spy boss. Xin denies any links to Wang.

Filip Shu included screen shots of WeChat messages in his affidavit but no translations "due to the urgency of the matter". SBS

Shu doesn’t say that he is pursuing any action against Duoda or Xiang Xin, just Wang.

In his affidavit Shu includes copies of WeChat messages that he exchanged with Wang, to substantiate his claims. The difficulty here is that, whatever your view of the provenance of screenshots of a WeChat page, it’s all in Chinese.


Shu repeatedly notes that “due to the urgency of the matter, I have not yet had time to translate the WeChat messages from Mandarin to English”.

How did the duty judge agree to granting ex parte freezing orders on what appears a half-formed case? Perhaps Mandarin is a hidden talent among Supreme Court judges. Who knew?

Within days, details of Shu's claims ended up with media outlets. The tale is so complex that at least two media groups declined to run the story without further verification, before The Daily Telegraph gave Shu’s allegations the grand treatment over three pages.

This is all happening as Wang and his wife are being kept in a “secure place” by a federal agency, Watson told the court on January 31.

In early January it emerged that Australian authorities were investigating death threats allegedly made to Wang over the New Year by two China and Taiwan business and political figures, if he did not retract his story.

The fraud case is back in court April 13 and with legal bills racheting relentlessly north, Shu will be agonising: is he really going to get Wang’s $2000?