Cash trail leads to Clive Palmer

"A BRISBANE media agency involved in Clive Palmer’s federal election campaign received $2.167 million in Chinese government cash allegedly siphoned from an account controlled by the businessman at the time of his record-spending bid to enter parliament."
The Australian can reveal that new documents show the agency, Media Circus Network, received the payment with cheque No 2073 drawn on a National Australia Bank account called “Port Palmer Operations’’, just five days before the September 7 election.
Documents obtained from the Supreme Court of Queensland yesterday show that one month earlier, a sum of $10m went to one of Mr Palmer’s companies, Cosmo Developments, after being removed from the same bank account with cheque No 2046. Company searches show Cosmo Developments, which is owned by Mr Palmer’s flagship company Mineralogy, has one director, Mr Palmer’s nephew Clive Mensink.
Both men were yesterday named in subpoenas requiring them to hand over numerous documents as part of Chinese state-owned company Citic Pacific’s quest to determine how and why the $12.167m was withdrawn from an account set up to run an iron ore port in Western Australia.
The resources tycoon, leader of the Palmer United Party which now holds the balance of power in Australia, was sole signatory for the NAB account at the time, sources close to Mineralogy said yesterday. One of his executives, Vimal Sharma, had previously controlled the NAB account at the centre of a bitter and increasingly serious row with Citic.
The documents filed yesterday show for the first time that Media Circus Network, an integral agency involved in Mr Palmer’s campaign, and Cosmo Developments received the Chinese funds that went missing last year.
The potential consequences for Mr Palmer are considered so serious that China’s political leaders are being briefed on developments in Australia, according to high-level sources.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...clive-palmer-ads/story-fn59niix-1226972998020