"The concept of face ... so he feels like'I’m the big man',"Mr Cheah told the inquiry when asked why a man of Mr Huang’s stature was personally delivering plastic bags of cash to a political party’s office.
He said the bag was full of bundles of cash,bound together with elastic bands and adding up to $100,000 when he counted it in Labor's open-plan office.
At the time,Mr Huang was a prohibited donor,and therefore banned from making political donations. Mr Huang,who now lives in Hong Kong,declined the ICAC's invitation to give evidence via audiovisual link.
The ICAC began investigating Labor's handling of donations after a referral from the NSW Electoral Commission.
Documents tendered at the inquiry indicated Mr Cheah had previously been offered a deal by the Electoral Commission that he wouldn't be prosecuted if he gave evidence about Mr Clements and Mr Huang,which he declined.
The 2015 fundraising dinner attracted concern from the Electoral Commission after several restaurant workers and family members of Jonathan Yee,owner of the Emperor's Garden Restaurant in Chinatown,claimed to have donated $100,000 in cash,which was supposedly raised on the night.
"The associations,along with the implausibility that restaurant workers would have the financial capacity to make lump sum donations of $5000 or $10,000,as well as other factors,led the Electoral Commission to suspect that the $100,000 in cash was donated on behalf of a person or persons other than those who appeared in NSW Labor and Country Labor's disclosures,"Mr Robertson said.
The inquiry also revealed that current NSW Labor general secretary Kaila Murnain learnt of the true origins of the donations during her time as assistant general secretary. Ms Murnain gave compulsory evidence to the commission that former NSW Labor MP and key witness Ernest Wong had told her that Mr Huang had in fact donated the cash from the Chinese Friends of Labor dinner.
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Mr Cheah,the first person to give evidence to the inquiry,was questioned about how a $5000 donation from the late Dr Liao was processed.
He described the headquarters as having a"very chaotic atmosphere"where"people get skipped in the process if it's more efficient".
"That's not uncommon,I think,in any office where things are moving fast,"Mr Cheah told the inquiry.
Dr Liao,whose LinkedIn profile reveals he had a doctorate in philosophy in mining engineering from the University of NSW,said he had wanted to preserve his reputation and integrity.
In a separate letter addressed to both his wife and daughter,Mr Liao said the delivery of the summons by two ICAC officers triggered memories of"past events where my father was being interrogated in China,eventually he ended in jail,it was petrifying".
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NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay said she was"shocked and saddened"by the revelations.
"Integrity is everything for the party I lead and that is why I’m a strong supporter of the ICAC,"she said in a statement. "I will be watching closely as the inquiry runs its course."
It was also revealed on Monday that former senator Sam Dastyari will be called to give evidence to the ICAC.