Managing director of the China Market Research Group Shaun Rein said many of the corrupt officials had retreated to affluent communities in the West.
"A lot of communities in California, it's all former officials' families living in $10-20 million mansions, and the question comes: how exactly did they get that money?" Mr Rein said.
"In Sydney a lot of the $10, 20, 30 million properties, similarly, are being bought by Chinese with connections to officialdoms.
"These people are not the buyers that a lot of Australians had hoped for ... they are really corrupt.
"They are not necessarily the type of business people that you want in this part of your community." Australia tax haven for corrupt officials
China's highly influential business magazine, Caijing, said Australia had become a favourite bolthole for corrupt Chinese officials and businessmen.
Mr Rein said Australia's taxation authorities were relatively lax compared to other countries like the US.
"A lot of the corrupt officials feel that Australia's not quite as aggressive, either [in] trying to get personal income taxes or investigating.
He's [President Xi] getting a lot of these ill-gotten assets back from corrupt government officials who fled, even if you retire and leave the country, we will come after you.
Shaun Rein
"A lot of these officials will keep several identities; they're never really reporting their taxes to anyone appropriately."
Mr Rein said Chinese president Xi Jinping's anti-corruption crack-down was very serious.
"He's getting a lot of these ill-gotten assets back from corrupt government officials and their families who fled to scare the current officialdom, because even if you retire and leave the country, we will come after you."
The Australian Federal Police have yet to explain how they propose to extradite the targeted Chinese fugitives, or seize allegedly stolen assets that have long since been laundered through legitimate business ventures.
"There is no doubt the move to prosecute people who've had their snouts in the trough is a popular move," David Goodman a professor of sociology at Nanjing University China said.
"What worries me is the extent to which there are checks on the behaviour of the state in both cases.
"In China in particular, there is a whimsical element to the state, and in Australia, there is a climate of deep suspicion in some places about Chinese investment."
