Palmer’s PA faces witness box on fugitive nephew

Clive Palmer’s personal assistant is testifying in a Federal Court public probe into the whereabouts of Clive Mensink.

Clive Palmer's PA Sarah Mole.

Clive Palmer’s fugitive nephew Clive Mensink organised his uncle’s huge Mediterranean cruise while shirking court orders to return to Australia to testify, a court has heard.

The resource magnate’s long-time personal assistant Sarah Mole is testifying in a Federal Court public examination into the whereabouts of Mr Mensink, who left Australia in June 2016 and is now dodging two arrest warrants for contempt of court.

Ms Mole revealed she used the credit card of Mr Palmer’s flagship personal company Mineralogy to pay for several trips for Mr Mensink, including to Fiji, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Amsterdam, and other parts of Europe.

“I understand they were being paid for by the company, as part of Mr Mensink’s entitlements in lieu,” Ms Mole said.

She said she did not have a discussion with Mr Palmer that she should pay for Mr Mensink’s travel with the Mineralogy credit card, which is also in Mr Palmer’s name.

“There wasn’t a discussion about it; it was fairly automatic,” she said.

“I believed it was the correct action to take.”

Mr Mensink was the sole registered director of Queensland Nickel when it collapsed early last year, costing creditors $300m and nearly 800 workers their jobs.

Emails tendered to the court showed Mr Mensink and Ms Mole communicated earlier this year with a US-based travel agent about a Mediterranean cruise Mr Palmer took with his family, friends, lawyers and other employees.

Ms Mole said Mr Mensink appeared to be organising the cruise, but she did not know whether he intended to go on it.

“There were a great many people (who were going on it),” Ms Mole said of the cruise.

“I didn’t know if he was going to be attending or not.”

The court heard Mr Mensink and Ms Mole exchanged about 15 or 16 regular emails in February and March this year, with the final email being on March 28. Her final text message to Mr Mensink was on January 31, 2017, she said.

Ms Mole also confirmed The Australian’s report this morning (see below) that she had given Mr Mensink’s new Westpac MasterCard to Mr Palmer’s “head of operations” Craig Gunnis in March, just weeks before the arrest warrants were issued. She said she did not know what Mr Gunnis then did with the credit card.

Barrister Tom Sullivan QC, for Queensland Nickel’s special purpose liquidators PPB Advisory, asked Ms Mole: “So Mr Palmer was aware, he requested Mr Mensink to arrange this trip?”

Ms Mole replied: “It’s highly likely.”

The court also heard Ms Mole repeatedly say she could not recall receiving an email on April 4 2017, containing Federal Court orders to be passed on to Mr Mensink.

The Federal Court had some days before issued a warrant for Mr Mensink’s arrest.

Mr Sullivan: “Ms Mole, do you currently know where Mr Mensink is?”

Ms Mole: “No, I do not.”

Palmer’s keeper of secrets

One of Clive Palmer’s longest-serving and most trusted employees, his personal assistant Sarah Mole, will be forced to testify today under oath about her boss and her contact with his fugitive nephew, Clive Mensink.

In a surprise move, Queensland Nickel’s liquidators have called Ms Mole — who has worked closely with Mr Palmer for more than a decade and has never before given evidence in the many-fronted legal battle — to the Federal Court witness box to press for information about Mr Mensink’s location and Mr Palmer’s involvement in his nephew’s flight from justice.

Ms Mole was the last known person to correspond with Mr Mensink, when she exchanged a series of emails with the gallivanting businessman in March, just weeks before the Federal Court issued two warrants for his arrest for contempt of court.

Clive Palmer. Picture; AAP.

Court documents show Mr Mensink asked Ms Mole in March to book international cruises for him, receive and forward a new Westpac MasterCard, and accept delivery from FedEx in the US of his new driver’s licence.

Mr Palmer’s loyal personal assistant, who is believed to have intimate knowledge of the former federal MP’s complicated business affairs and is often a ­recipient of legal documents on Mr Mensink’s and Mr Palmer’s behalf, is likely to be quizzed about whether she was doing Mr Palmer’s bidding in communicating with Mr Mensink.

Ms Mole will testify today.

While Mr Palmer claims he has not had any contact with his fugitive nephew since February, the emails show a flurry of communication between Ms Mole and Mr Mensink in March. “Please direct all correspondence (about cruise booking payments) to Sarah Mole,” Mr Mensink emailed to his US-based Vacations to Go “travel counsellor” Dorothy Weaver on March 10, copying in Ms Mole.

“If there is a better rate yes please do so and note that I am a 3star mariner (sic).”

In another email, Ms Mole tells Mr Mensink she received an envelope from Westpac on March 6, containing a MasterCard. “What would you like me to do with it?” Mr Mensink ­replied, “Please pass to cg.”

In the documents, the identity of “cg” is not confirmed. However, a current employee of Mr Palmer’s is Craig Gunnis, who has been spotted with Mr Palmer at recent court hearings.

Mr Gunnis was a serial unsuccessful candidate for the former federal MP’s Palmer United Party, and was reportedly the manager of “Palmer Motorama,” Mr Palmer’s vintage car museum at his Sunshine Coast golf resort, in 2013.

In another email, Ms Mole tells Mr Mensink that “Craig gave me a pile of mail that he’s collected” from a suburban Brisbane property owned by Mr Mensink. “We figured we should email to you just in case,” Ms Mole told Mr Mensink on March 17, just 12 days before the arrest warrants were issued.

Mr Gunnis did not return calls or messages from The Australian yesterday. Mr Gunnis’s disclosure form to the Electoral Commission of Queensland, filed for his 2015 state election tilt at the seat of Lockyer, was signed by Mr Mensink.

Ms Mole was at work at Mr Palmer’s new Mineralogy headquarters in Brisbane yesterday. She did not respond to The Australian’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, Mr Palmer has filed a fresh affidavit in his Queensland Supreme Court ­defence to the liquidators’ bid to freeze more than $200m worth of his assets.