The sources, speaking on condition of confidentiality, said the investigation had moved on from the claims made by Melbourne man Bo "Nick" Zhao that Mr Chen had offered him $1 million to run for the Australian Parliament. Authorities were now assessing Mr Chen's business activities in Melbourne and across Asia and Europe. Mr Chen, an occasional Melbourne resident, denied knowing Mr Zhao and also denied any association with the Chinese military. However, he admitted to owning a company that manufactured special vehicles. Mr Chen said he was in the process of buying a factory in Melbourne's northern suburbs to begin producing vehicles before he left Australia in March. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "I wanted to start a factory to build modified cars here, because that's what I've always been doing. But the negotiation of venue and factory hasn't been settled," he said.

"The factory that we were looking at was near the airport, the industrial area, but it was too expensive, so we didn't make the final decision." Mr Chen said the Australian officials questioned him about why his company's website featured photographs of military vehicles, which prompted him to remove the photographs. Loading Mr Chen is the chief executive of Prospect Time International Investment, which promotes China's "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. Prospect Time's subsidiary, Special Vehicles and Equipment Company, is a 50 per cent shareholder in a company whose name can be roughly translated as Beijing Northern Li Mao Long Defence and Security Technology Company. That company produces bullet-proof transport trucks, public security guard cars and other special vehicles that are certified by China's Ministry of Public Security – the main security arm of the Chinese Communist Party.

The other half of that company is owned by Beijing North Vehicle Group Corporation (Norveco), an affiliate of Norinco, China's major state-owned defence corporation. Norinco is one of the largest defence corporations in the world, and was one of 10 companies that participated in China's military parade in October. Norveco's civil vehicles were involved in landmark events such as the Beijing Olympics torch relay and Chinese national day events. Some of Norinco's major international buyers include the governments of Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Venezuela. Mr Chen's company Prospect Time has also struck questionable deals with various governments and companies around the world.

In June 2017 Mr Chen's company said it was "pleased to lead a team of experts to Portugal for a $2.9 billion project to be completed in the next four to five years". But by 2018 the Portugal project had fallen over, with Portugal's authorities refusing to answer questions about the deal. The announcement of the project was removed from Prospect Time's website. In the past two years Prospect Time has announced a $3.3 billion infrastructure plan in the Philippines, a $220 million hotel complex in the Pacific island of Palau, an oil project in Maldives and an undisclosed project in Thailand, where the company said Mr Chen met former Thailand prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. There has been no evidence of any of the projects commencing. Many of the countries where deals were announced have been targeted by the Chinese government in its aggressive push to build its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Loading Mr Chen said Prospect Time, which was registered in 2004, had "existed for a long time but the business hasn't started".