The Library nightclub: Liquor licence bid dropped for club linked to couple Yusuf Khan, Cynthia Lu

The revamp of a Northbridge nightclub linked to glamour couple Yusuf Khan and Cynthia Lu has taken a fresh twist, with a new business withdrawing a bid to take over the liquor licence.

The Library’s licence was held by Mr Khan’s Perth City Enterprises, which collapsed in March. Filings with the corporate regulator showed debts of about $1.8 million.

The Lake Street building was slated to reopen as Preach Nightclub and has been undergoing renovations.

That revival needs a green light from liquor regulators, who had been assessing a request to transfer the now-suspended licence to new operators at JNK Entertainment.

But the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries confirmed earlier this week that application had been withdrawn.

The West had recently lodged a series of questions to regulators and Mr Khan about the nightclub’s business links.

Mr Khan was the director of PCE and a key figure at home builder Modco Residential, which hit the wall late last year.

He remains a director of Perth City Investments, which owns the club’s land and building at 69 Lake Street.

Wife Cynthia Lu also has links to that company through an intermediary business holding shares.

Both Mr Khan and Ms Lu were named by Modco Residential’s liquidators as potential shadow directors of the failed builder, according to a November creditors report filed with the corporate regulator.

Mr Khan bought The Library in 2017 and the club had notable connections.

Mujtaba Ibn Abdul-Aziz was a director of Perth City Investments until May 2020. Just months later, he was hit by a freezing order by the Corruption and Crime Commission — $650,000 was confiscated after a Supreme Court ruling in 2022.

The CCC said that followed a two-year investigation into whether “Mr Abdul-Aziz … or his associates, had unexplained wealth or criminal benefits arising from interests in a nightclub in Northbridge.”

“Funds were frozen just days before the money was due to be sent to a relative of Mr Abdul-Aziz in Colombia”.

There are questions over a further business which featured Mr Abdul-Aziz as a director, QN Holdings.

A company with the same name was listed as an unsecured creditor in a regulatory filing following Perth City Enterprises’ collapse.

Mr Khan did not directly respond to questions by The West Australian asking if Mr Abdul-Aziz had continued involvement in The Library or whether liquor regulators would consider either the CCC ruling or the liquidation. A representative said the information was “inaccurate” and a licence application would be considered confidential.

A spokesman for the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries had previously confirmed the transfer application was under consideration.

“In compliance with liquor licensing laws, the Department … scrutinises all liquor licence applications to ensure that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a licence,” he said at the time.

The Preach Nightclub name was registered in February, held by the trustee for the NK Family Trust.

The trust was represented by JNK Entertainment, helmed by Girrawheen resident Jennifer Nguyen as director, corporate filings show.

Two fresh businesses linked to the Preach name have emerged in recent weeks, with Preach Perth Pty Ltd registered at a Lake Street address used by Perth City Investments.

Last Friday, a new name — Preach Perth Nightclub — was registered, linked to a sole-trader.