Decade-old allegations against WA mining entrepreneur Peter Bartlett over a $50 million tax evasion case have resurfaced in the trial of five people accused of stealing gold-bearing ore from his company.
The court heard that Mr Bartlett was charged in 2011 and faced trial in 2013 and 2014 for tax evasion alongside his late business partner Ron Sayers, but was not convicted, although the pair paid back $40 million to the Australian Taxation Office.
Mr Bartlett has been giving evidence against the former general manager of his company, Patrick Rhyan Keogh, 42, who has pleaded not guilty in the Kalgoorlie District Court to stealing as a servant, among other charges.
Mr Keogh and his four co-accused allegedly stole 8,465 tonnes of gold ore from Greenfields Mill, owned by Mr Bartlett's FMR Investments, between December 2018 and January 2019.
The gold ore had an estimated value of $1.17 million, based on gold prices at the time.
Allegations resurface
Mr Keogh's lawyer Seamus Rafferty introduced the historic tax evasion allegations during his cross-examination, during which Mr Bartlett was also questioned about transporting up to 120 kilograms of gold bars between his Perth house and the Greenfields Mill on the back seat of Mr Keogh's car.
Mr Rafferty told the court the tax charges were discontinued but said Mr Bartlett could be charged again if further evidence was uncovered, which he suggested was "very stressful" and had "weighed upon you heavily".
"You knew the tax evasion charges could come back?" Mr Rafferty asked.
"No. It never entered my mind," Mr Bartlett responded.
Mr Rafferty asked Mr Bartlett if he had told Mr Keogh in conversation that he could not intervene in his case because police had him "still on the hook".
"Stop it, no. That's ridiculous," Mr Bartlett said.
"Did you say, 'They ambushed me and I had to protect myself'?" Mr Rafferty asked.
"That's incorrect," Mr Bartlett responded.
The court has previously heard Mr Keogh shared a "mentor and protégé" relationship with Mr Bartlett, who remains a company director after founding FMR Investments.
Mr Keogh's defence claims that his former boss gifted him the gold-bearing ore as a "reward" for transporting the gold bars.
'Deliberate lie' on stand alleged
After taking the witness stand on Monday, Mr Bartlett initially gave evidence that on at least three occasions Mr Keogh had met with him and "begged" him to change his police statement, while offering to pay back the money.
But under cross-examination from Mr Rafferty today, the 71-year-old admitted that did not happen and that "I made a mistake".
Mr Rafferty seized upon the testimony and repeatedly said that Mr Bartlett had "deliberately lied".
"You have given sworn evidence in front of the jury members that Patrick Keogh offered to pay you back?" Mr Rafferty said.
"If you want to get into the nitty gritty…," Mr Bartlett said.
"It did not happen, did it?" Mr Rafferty pressed.
"That's correct," Mr Bartlett said.
"You have deliberately lied — that's the case, isn't it?" Mr Rafferty said.
"I didn't deliberately lie to them at all," Mr Bartlett said.
At one stage, Mr Rafferty was cautioned against "badgering the witness" by Judge Christopher Stevenson.
"How can I remember everything that happened two or three years ago," Mr Bartlett said.
"I didn't mean to put it that way … I didn't deliberately lie to the jury."
Mr Bartlett reiterated that Mr Keogh asked him to "drop the case".
The cross-examination also focused on Mr Keogh using his private car to transport gold bars between the Greenfields Mill and Mr Bartlett's house in Perth.
'Unconventional' gold transport practices
The court heard on one occasion, up to 120 kilograms of unstamped gold bars was transported on the back seat of Mr Keogh's car to the processing plant at Coolgardie.
Mr Bartlett agreed the amount was between 100kg and 120kg of Doré gold, and the gold was worth about $8 million.
He said Mr Keogh had also "brought some small bars down to Perth".
The gold was kept in a safe at home "for emergencies", Mr Bartlett said, adding it had accumulated over more than 20 years.
"You might think it's unusual but to me, it wasn't," he said.
Mr Rafferty said the transport occurred around 2012 or 2013, near the time of the tax evasion case, and he questioned the "unconventional" and "highly unusual" practice of transporting gold without armoured security.
"I never even thought of a security firm … I asked him [Mr Keogh] to take it because he was going to the plant," Mr Bartlett said.
Mr Bartlett said the FMR Investments board knew about the gold, which he said was kept off the books until it was refined at the Perth Mint.
"I don't know what was stamped and I stamped," he said.
Mr Bartlett's wife, Julie Bartlett, took the witness stand today and testified about Mr Keogh visiting the couple's Busselton home in January 2021.
"He was quite upset [and] he asked me to get Peter to change his statement," she said.
"I said, 'Peter won't lie for you' … he said, 'I could go to jail, Jules'."
The trial continues.
