Columbus City officials released hundreds of pages of documents today that show that the woman who purchased the mayor's residence in 2010 received help from the city in several ways.
The mayor said he met Dr. Jianhua Li in 2010 when she purchased his home. She was visiting from China looking to set up a medical supply company.
After that initial meeting, the mayor said he helped Li to get visas twice to the US to help her try to develop a business here.
The first time, Coleman wrote the Chinese embassy, saying Li came to Columbus once or twice a year since 2010, saying "I had the pleasure of personally welcoming her to our city every time when she came to our city."
In a statement released to the media, what Coleman said he did not know was that Columbus Development Department employee Bob Hsieh also helped Li in other ways and that Hsieh said he did so at the request of the mayor's ex-wife, Frankie Coleman.
"I learned for the first time from emails collected by the City that Frankie Coleman contacted Bob Hsieh on behalf of Dr. Li. I was previously unaware of this contact. Any communication or contact between Dr. Li and Frankie Coleman was between them and did not involve me in any way."
City documents show that Hsieh also helped Li to transfer money overseas, arrange trips back to the US and even found someone to care for her lawn.
Hsieh's assistance was something that even the Director of Development said he didn't know about.
Pictured: Robert Hsieh
Columbus Director of Development Steven Schoeny said Hsieh's help with Li was brought to his attention by the FBI. Hsieh was supposed to only help Li "explore establishing business operations in Columbus" anything beyond that was Mr. Hsieh's initiative.
"When you look at the documents, it's clear he was doing more than his job duties,” Schoeny told 10 Investigates.
By description, Hsieh's job is to help support "economic development team in cultivating international business relationships in Asia."
Hsieh is listed on the City's payroll. However 10 Investigates discovered he is not listed on the city's 2015 Annual Report which includes a list of the city’s economic development team. Schoeny said that was simply an oversight.
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