ASIC launches formal investigation into Chris Ellison tax dodge scheme with Mineral Resources gear

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has launched a formal investigation into allegations related to Mineral Resources founder Chris Ellison’s tax dodge scheme.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court told a Senate committee on Thursday it had launched the formal probe after having examined allegations outlined in media reports about Mr Ellison’s financial affairs.

Ms Court said ASIC already “has some engagement” with the Australian Taxation Office and “the investigation will follow the normal course”.

The ASIC has been triggered by media reports about a secret deal that Mr Ellison finalised with the ATO last year after voluntarily disclosing a scheme involving equipment sales through a British Virgin Island company.

That deal reportedly involved Mr Ellison being assured that information gathered through the voluntary disclosure process would not be forwarded to the Australian Federal Police or other regulators.

The MinRes board on Monday stunned investors when it released damning findings of a long-running, secret internal investigation that found “at times Mr Ellison has not acted with integrity” and he “failed to be as forthcoming with the board as he should have been”.

The board’s report on co-owned offshore companies that allegedly profited on equipment sold to the listed mining and services group.

This came a fortnight after Mr Ellison issued an apology over the scandal, saying: “I deeply regret and apologise for these actions, and have since ensured that I have put the matter right with the ATO”.

The billionaire described the failure to declare the revenue as “a poor decision and a serious lapse of judgment”.

He has agreed to step down within 18 months and pay a multimillion-dollar fine and donate $1 million annual over five years to selected charities.

Mr Ellison told the ATO about the equipment rort in 2021 under voluntary disclosure provisions that give the offenders an 80 per cent discount on any of the normal penalties charged for non-payment of tax.

After probing senior tax officials about their dealings with Mr Ellison late Wednesday, Senator Barbara Pocock turned her attention to ASIC’s inquiring into allegations the MinRes founder was involved in tax evasion for more than a decade.

She said “real concerns exist about Mr. Ellison putting his personal financial interests ahead of shareholders”.

Having said a fortnight ago that ASIC was inquiring into the issues reported by media outlets, Ms Court said her agency had since commenced a formal investigation.

Ms Court said ASIC would liaise with the tax office and the consider using its compulsive evidence gathering powers.

“We will look at the information that we obtain, and then we will make an assessment as to whether or not we think there’s been any contraventions of the laws that ASIC administers,” she said.

When asked how she would characterise MinRes’s co-operation with her agency’s inquiries, Ms Court said it was “too early to give any comment about that”.

“It really is a matter of a week or so that we have had a formal investigation ongoing,” she said. “Potentially next time we’re before the committee, I might be able to give a bit more information, but things are at a very early stage.”