13 hours Ago By Jesinta Burton
Mineral Resources chair James McClements has opened the company’s annual general meeting by addressing the tax scandal engulfing the miner. McClements acknowledged the recent probe which uncovered founder and managing director Chris Ellison used company resources for personal gain, with the billionaire having been involved in an offshore equipment markup scheme and had staff working on his own properties and finances. Mineral Resources was founded by Chris Ellison, who remains its managing director.
He says he will leave the company in the next 18 months. Credit: Trevor Collens “From time to time, Chris lacked judgment and used company resources for personal matters,” he said. “The board accepts that Chris’ intention was never to cause detriment to the company or its shareholders and there were processes in place for amounts to be repaid to the company in a timely manner.
“As we made clear in our statement on November 4, there have also been occasions, including in respect of historical dealings with Far East Equipment Holdings Limited and the subsequent personal tax implications, where Chris lacked the judgement and integrity we would expect of our managing director. This resulted in a range of financial penalties that we felt were appropriate and warranted in the circumstances.” McClements, who has declared he would follow Ellison by departing after 10 years with the company, insisted the related-party arrangements uncovered by the probe would remain the subject of rigorous independent testing and was committed to improved transparency.
But he concluded by praising Ellison for his contribution to the company’s operations, growth and shareholder value creation. The Osborne Park-headquartered diversified mining services company has been grappling with a plunging share price amid shock revelations by the Australian Financial Review that Ellison and four other executives had profited to the tune of millions of dollars in an offshore scheme that ran for a decade. Ellison, who remains the largest shareholder with an 11.
5 per cent stake in the $7 billion miner he founded 32 years ago, has publicly apologised and vowed to fork out $18.4m in penalties before he departs in 12 to 18 months. Ellison has maintained a low profile since the scandal was thrust into the public arena — until now.
The billionaire is set to front shareholders for the first time since the scheme was made public on Thursday, when the company holds its annual general meeting at its namesake park in Perth’s inner-east. The AGM continues. Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.
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