Qld ‘mining’ figure’s work history at CuDeco, Peabody, Glencore unearthed amid $200m tax probe

Tom Peever is accused of claiming $200m in false tax refunds via a fake mining operation. His disappearing social media footprint reveals his alleged links to some market darlings.

Tom and Kirsten Peever at their wedding. Tom and Kirsten Peever allegedly owe the Australian Taxation Office more than $200m after their assets were frozen.

The LinkedIn profile of a Queensland man accused of confecting a fake mining operation that has left him and his wife owing more than $200m in taxes claims he worked at large mining companies, including copper market darling CuDeco.

Pictures of Queensland couple Tom and Kirsten Peever can also be revealed, after their social media profiles were apparently erased following a probe into their tax affairs.

The Australian Taxation Office obtained freezing orders spanning assets belonging to the couple and a web of about 30 companies they are linked with. It is alleged they ran a mining operation, including through a company called Elution Metals, which acquired pretend assets and falsely claimed GST and research and development refunds.

Tom (pictured) and Kirsten Peever allegedly owe the Australian Taxation Office more than $200m.

In screenshots of Mr Peever’s LinkedIn profile, which is no longer accessible but was supplied to The Australian, he claims to have worked as the chief commercial and chief financial officer of CuDeco, which collapsed in 2020 following a struggle with debt and the performance of its Rocklands copper mine, for nine months between May 2017 and January 2018.

An ASX statement dated November 27, 2017 reported the departure of CuDeco’s then chief executive officer, Mark Gregory, after a nine month tenure at the company.

Mr Gregory was also listed as a former director of Elution Metals, but according to the ATO’s submissions he quit in May 2022. As well, the ATO said in its submissions that another Elution Metals director, David Wilson, resigned in August 2022. 

Public ASIC records dispute this, however, and say Mr Gregory resigned in May 2018 while reporting Mr Wilson resigned in August 2018.

A former CuDeco executive was contacted for comment.

Mr and Mrs Peever were also contacted on Monday, as were their lawyers.

The screenshot also indicated Mr Peever claimed he worked at Swiss miner Glencore and US-listed Peabody Energy for brief stints in 2016 and 2017 in lower level roles, and further that he worked at Papua New Guinea based Ok Tedi Mining for two years and nine months between May 2013 and January 2016.

It’s understood Mr Peever did work at Glencore, in Darwin for nine months. Peabody was contacted for comment.

Tom and Kirsten Peever (pictured) had their assets frozen.

In its submissions in support of freezing orders sought over the couple’s assets, the tax office raised concerns the couple may flee to PNG if they discovered the covert ATO probe.

Unusually, there are no publicly available images or active social media profiles linked with Mr and Mrs Peever.

A source shared a glimpse of their former profiles, along with pictures of the couple on their wedding day.

The tax office has alleged Mr and Mrs Peever, via multiple companies including Elution Metals, falsely claimed GST credits worth about $76m between 2018 and 2022 and research and development credits worth about $22m for 2020 and 2021, according to the submissions seen by The Australian.

“To date, Mr and Mrs Peever appear to continue to be using the assets purchased with the GST refunds and R&D offsets received by the company taxpayers, as well as rent and dividends from these assets, for their personal expenses and lifestyle, including credit cards, house renovations, jewellery, travel, alcohol, and art,” the ATO submissions read.

A Facebook screenshot linked to Kirsten Peever (pictured). Picture: Facebook

According to the tax office, Mrs Peever has reported a “modest income” between 2014 and 2021 ranging from $135 in 2015 to $59,478 in 2017.

Her employment history is listed as a human resources officer, and the tax office alleged she reported a taxable income of $38,254 in 2021 from a business called KLP HR Services “though this does not appear in an ABN search”.

In the same years, Mr Peever reported an income ranging between $9,673 in 2015 and $741,674 in 2021; the tax office said he obtained a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Queensland and is certified with CPA Australia.

In December, the Federal Court froze $16.9m of Mrs Peever’s assets, noting the ATO said it already garnished about $5m from her and she granted them security over two properties worth $8.3m.

The assets frozen included a Mercedes Benz worth $178,000, multimillion-dollar properties on the Gold Coast’s Broadbeach and Brisbane’s Pullenvale, a CommSec trading account and money on deposit.

The court froze $36.8m of Mr Peever’s assets, which is the remainder of $51m worth of director penalty notices minus the value of security obtained by the ATO of $14.2m.

About $200m worth of assets relating to the Peever Family Office, PVR Mineralogy and Corporate, Orchid Blaze plus 29 other companies that have variations of the names Elution Metals, Araucana, Mount Hood, Malworth Metals and Huntingdale Metals were also frozen.

Originally published as Qld ‘mining’ figure’s work history at CuDeco, Peabody, Glencore unearthed amid $200m tax probe