A multi-millionaire bikini boss who is gunning for a new career in politics has defended attempting to smuggle swimwear in China to allegedly avoid paying tax.
Erin Deering, co-founder of the multi-million-dollar Triangl swimwear brand worn by the likes of Margot Robbie and Kendall Jenner, is running for Deputy Lord Mayor in Melbourne’s council elections next month.
Ms Deering is standing alongside environmentalist and former Acting Lord Mayor Aaron Wood on a pro-business platform aimed at scrapping red tape and boosting the local economy.
But past comments have since resurfaced about how Ms Deering once attempted to ‘illegally’ evade tax in the early days of her bikini business, which she set up with her ex-husband and former AFL star Craig Ellis in Hong Kong in 2012.
In her memoir Hanging By a Thread, published last year, Ms Deering revealed how the pair ‘decided to illegally drive the stock across the border to their new factory in Shenzen.
‘A huge risk, but one we took so we could save a fair amount of money… Doing it ourselves meant avoiding the inevitable taxes applied by China for all goods entering the country,’ Ms Deering wrote.
Ms Deering and her ex attempted to disguise the bikinis in suitcases but their ‘stupid’ ploy was uncovered by customs officials and confiscated.
Fortunately, they were let go without a fine or prosecution.
Erin Deering (pictured), co-founder of the multi-million-dollar Triangl swimwear brand worn by the likes of Margot Robbie and Kendall Jenner, is running for Deputy Lord Mayor in Melbourne’s council elections next month
The entrepreneur told a podcast last year that the loss of so much stock could have ‘killed’ their business.
Ms Deering denied that she had ever breached tax laws.
‘Any suggestion I’ve breached tax laws is wrong,’ she told the Herald Sun.
Despite writing in her memoir that she had been trying to act ‘illegally’, Ms Deering denied any illegality.
‘If anyone has done business in China they know it can be complicated and difficult at times,’ she added.
‘All of our bikinis were made in China but had been sent to Triangl in Hong Kong, where there are no import duties.
‘We tried to get the stock back into China quickly because we had engaged a logistics company for the first time, which was based in China, and were going to send stock directly from China to customers from then on.
‘We got stopped at the border and the stock was confiscated.’
Daily Mail Australia approached Ms Deering for further comment.
Ms Deering and her ex-husband grew Triangle into a $200 million business sold in over 100 countries worldwide.
Ms Deering has since remarried business owner Zachary Keane and launched her own fashion brand (the pair are pictured together)
The success of the business propelled them both onto the rich list, with an estimated personal fortune of $35million.
Ms Deering has since remarried business owner Zachary Keane and launched her own fashion brand.
Melbourne’s council elections are decided via postal vote only.