Clive Palmer’s former lawyer ordered to repay $28.5m and hand over gold
Clive Palmer’s former lawyer has been ordered to repay $28.5m he allegedly stole from the businessman by doctoring legal invoices over a decade.
Clive Palmer’s former lawyer has been ordered to repay $28.5m he allegedly siphoned from the billionaire’s legal bills over a decade and hand over $2.5m in gold bullion he bought with the alleged ill-gotten cash.
In an unpublished Supreme Court judgment formally released to The Australian, judge Melanie Hindman ordered former solicitor Sam Iskander to pay Mr Palmer and his companies $28,534,205.35, which includes $6,800,645.76 in interest.
Justice Hindman on November 20 also told Mr Iskander to deliver $2.5m in gold bullion to a “facility for safe-keeping” within a week, or risk being pursued for contempt of court.
The Australian understands Mr Iskander, who had been on a retainer for Mr Palmer and his empire of resources and property companies since 2016, had not delivered the gold as instructed.
In early August, Mr Palmer publicly accused Mr Iskander of defrauding him of $30m and successfully launched a Supreme Court action to freeze the suburban solicitor’s assets, including a packed portfolio of properties.
Mr Iskander consented to the freezing orders, and at that stage was being treated in the mental health ward of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Mr Palmer’s senior staff had discovered the lawyer had for years been allegedly falsely doctoring invoices from barristers and expert legal witnesses and keeping the extra cash.
Court documents showed Mr Iskander and related companies spent about $27m on buying properties since 2016, when he was put on a full-time retainer by Mr Palmer’s flagship company Mineralogy.
Mr Palmer reported the matter to police and the Queensland Law Society in July, sparking a police fraud investigation and triggering Mr Iskander’s surrender of his practising certificate to the society.
The QLS appointed receivers to Mr Iskander’s firm, Alexander Law, and took possession of trust money, property and client files.
As recently as last month, the police said there was no update on the fraud investigation.
In a written statement, Mr Palmer said the ruling was “decisive” and a “clear vindication of his company’s position”.
“Mineralogy sought summary judgment in its claim against Mr Iskander over millions of dollars misappropriated from the company while he acted in a position of trust,” Mr Palmer’s statement said. “In handing down the decision, Justice Hindman awarded Mineralogy $28m and described Mr Iskander’s conduct as ‘the most egregious’ case that Queensland has seen.
“It was a profound breach of trust, made worse by the fact that Mr Iskander was a practising solicitor and officer of the Supreme Court.
“Justice Hindman also ordered that 15 1kg gold bars, purchased using part of funds defrauded from Mineralogy, be returned by Mr Iskander to the registrar of the Supreme Court.”
Mr Palmer’s solicitor, Jonathan Shaw, who swore a lengthy affidavit for the Supreme Court case, said the alleged doctoring of invoices was discovered when one of Mr Palmer’s staffers requested a copy of a barrister’s invoice while preparing a tax return.
He alleged it was “immediately apparent” the barrister’s original invoice did not match the one Mr Iskander had sent to Mr Palmer for payment, and both the number of billable hours and the amount had been inflated.
The Australian contacted Mr Iskander’s solicitor for comment.
More Coverage
