COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Bob Hsieh has worked for the Columbus Department of Development since 1999 when he was hired as a Business Development Specialist.

Hsieh’s personnel file shows a history of meeting or exceeding job expectations. In his most recent evaluation this year his supervisor Tonya Barnett wrote that Hsieh was “very good at keeping me up to date on where he is and what he is working on.”

But city documents that were turned over the FBI earlier this year and released to the media this week show that Hsieh was working on things beyond the scope of his job. Specifically, Hsieh was taking extraordinary steps to help a Chinese businesswoman, Jianhua Li, who paid $520,000 for mayor Michael Coleman’s former house in Berwick in 2010.

The emails released by City Hall show Hsieh was in regular contact with the Mayor’s former executive assistant Kennetha Hardin and with Michael Jones, the mayo’rs real estate agent. Jones was appointed to the city Board of Zoning Adjustments in 2012.

Residents in the Berwick neighborhood say no one has lived in the house since it was sold in 2010.

Li, who is in the medical supply business in China, indicated an interest in developing a business interest in Columbus.

The documents show Hsieh and Jones made arrangements for lawn care at the property. Hsieh also assisted with financial transactions for Li and relayed to the Mayor’s office Li’s requests for assistance in expediting temporary visas.

Coleman wrote letters to U.S. Ambassadors to China in 2013 and 2014 asking for help expediting Li’s requests for temporary visas.

But the mayor says he did not provide or request anything that is not routinely offered to any company considering locating in Columbus.

An entry on the Mayor’s calendar shows a lunch meeting in 2012 with Hsieh, Jones, two assistants, and “Madame Li.”

“This is lunch with the lady that bought your house,” the entry says. “She wants to give you a gift…”

Then later that same year in an email from Hsieh to the mayor’s office:

“Mrs. Li of Beijing China has sent a nice present via express mail to our Mayor to thank him for his assistance over the past year.”

There are no entries on the mayors financial disclosure forms indicating any gifts from Jianhua Li but depending on the value of the gift, they might not need to be listed.

Coleman’s office declined a request from NBC4 for an on-camera interview with the mayor.