George Kopsidas, the CEO of Imunexus told about a lucrative offer made in the last two years, by a company named Prospect Time International Investment, to make an investment in his company and particularly in leasing CSIRO’s entire wing in Parkville, Melbourne.

The Startup’s founder, Mr. Kopsidas said that Chen was ready to invest hundreds of millions in the company.

Brian Chen, the CEO of Prospect Time, has alleged involvement in a scheme by Chinese-intelligence, to win a seat for Bo "Nick" Zhao, a Liberal Party member, in Federal Parliament. Chen, though, has denied knowing Zhao. But Herald and The Age have confirmed Chen’s contact with Zhao.

Alex Joske, an Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst showed security concerns over CSIRO and foreign-owned companies sharing premises. He said that being inside the building and having hr authority to enter the CSIRO facility makes it much easier to spy.

The head of the Australian National University’s National Security College, Rory Medcalf, said that a lot of questions can be raised about the proposed deal.

Imunexus stopped negotiating since it was not satisfied with the deal’s terms. Mr. Kopsidas said that the deal was very biased towards Brian. He said it was very surprising for us when in the end he just disappeared.

A spokesperson from CSIRO said that it was ignorant of MR Chen’s proposal to Imunexus and that the organization has systems to guard itself against threats from companies owned by foreigners.

After the data leakage in 2013 by a Chinese national, the cybersecurity systems of the CSIRO have been upgraded by spending millions of dollars. 

Mr. Zhao told his associates about his revealing to ASIO that Mr. Chen’s offer to set up a multi-million dollar business for him, in return of which he’ll run for a seat in the Australian Parliament.