Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest woman, defrauded her children out of billions of dollars in iron ore wealth, Perth Supreme Court has heard
- Gina Rinehart allegedly committed fraud against her own children
- Mining licenses were ‘illegally transferred to his company’
- This “increased his participation at the expense of his children”
- Perth Supreme Court heard she lied to her children about it
Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart committed ‘gross fraud’ and then lied about it, a lawsuit involving billions of dollars in iron ore wealth has been announced.
A lawyer for Ms Rinehart’s children says there is clear evidence that mining licenses were illegally transferred to her company, Hancock Prospecting, and a subsidiary after her father Lang Hancock died in 1992.
“We don’t use the word fraud lightly,” barrister Christopher Withers SC said Monday in a complex trial over mining assets and royalties in Western Australia’s northwest.
Mr Withers accused Ms Rinehart of exploiting a joint venture agreement with Hamersley Iron to move buildings from Hope Downs and East Angeles.
“We say the evidence that the fraud was perpetuated by Gina on her children is overwhelming,” he said.
Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart (pictured) committed ‘blatant fraud’ and then lied about it, a lawsuit involving billions of dollars in iron ore wealth has been announced
Mr Withers said the action was contrary to Lang Hancock’s intentions for Ms Rinehart’s eldest children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, to benefit from the assets via a trust.
“The events following Lang’s death constitute a blatant fraud orchestrated by Gina and perpetrated by people who did what Gina wanted without question,” he said.
He said the shares were “covered up” by a “false narrative to his children and the general public that (Hancock Prospecting) and his personal success was simply the result of hard work rather than dishonesty”.
Mr Withers said the false narrative was that Lang Hancock dishonestly breached his fiduciary duty and mismanaged Hancock Prospecting, which “Gina had to clean up”.
‘The truth is that Lang discovered the mining areas of the Pilbara. He was the driving force behind the decision to create a mine, which Gina was against,’ he said in reference to the Hope Downs mining complex operated by Ms Rinehart’s company and Rio Tinto.
Mr Withers said Ms Rinehart’s alleged fraud ‘increased her own stake at the expense of her children’ and that she lied to them about it.
He also claimed the 2023 Western Australian of the Year threatened John Hancock and his lawyers when they tried to investigate the case.
The claims were made in a high-stakes legal case in Perth Supreme Court, in which Ms Rinehart’s company and her children are defending the claims of Wright Prospecting and DFD Rhodes.
A lawyer for Ms Rinehart’s children said mining licenses were illegally transferred to her company, Hancock Prospecting, and a subsidiary after her father Lang Hancock died in 1992 (pictured, Ms Rinehart’s daughter, Bianca Rinehart, at Perth Supreme Court on Monday)
Wright Prospecting demanded a share of some buildings and royalties from Hope Downs amid a claim it never gave up the assets and Hancock Prospecting breached a series of partnership agreements.
The late prospector Don Rhodes’ family business, DFD Rhodes, claims to be entitled to a 1.25% royalty on production from Hope Downs.
He claims a deal was struck in the 1960s with Mr Hancock and Mr Wright in which the rights to the ore-rich reserves of the Pilbara were ceded.
The Hope Downs mining complex near Newman is one of Australia’s largest and most successful iron ore projects, comprising four surface mines.
Ms Rinehart, executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, oversaw the development of the mines after signing a deal in 2005 with Rio Tinto – which has a 50% stake in the project.
