by Ian W Taylor
CHAPTER TWENTY
SATURDAY/SUNDAY -DALY WATERS
Jake spent the weekend relaxing at Daly Waters. His leg was healing up well and he was going on long walks to strengthen it. The Toyota had been repaired and returned to him courtesy of a friend of Bill’s. He spent as much time as he could with Shoni and together they explored the area around Daly Waters which was mainly semi-arid desert but also contained some gorges and natural springs. There could not have been a greater contrast to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo with its twelve million people living in confined spaces.
Their relationship grew as they talked for hours about their past and their hopes for the future. They felt very comfortable together and found they had a lot of things in common. After her shift at the pub finished each evening, Shoni rushed back to the cabin where Jake had a glass of wine waiting for her. After talking for a while they would shower together and make love on the old bed in the cabin.
MONDAY MORNING-DALY WATERS
Jake had just finished breakfast when his phone rang. It was Helen.
“Hi Jake. Sarah was able to check out those companies you sent to us. The companies are all registered in the Bahamas and all financial transactions have been with the Bank of Bahamas. Baobab Trustees was set up by none other than Bert O’Shea who as you probably know is the President of the Kakadu Land Council. Northern Consulting is jointly owned by its Managing Director, Tim Burston, Ruby Resources and Baobab Trustees. There is a complicated network of shell companies but she has tracked down the holding company to be Ruby Resources. The only address for Ruby is a post box number in a Canberra suburb. It is Post Office Box Number 457N at the Manuka Post Office in the Australian Capital Territory.’’ She paused as Jake copied the number down.
“As far as the Japanese company Mitsustrata is concerned, she has been able to track down the majority shareholder as Sidu Takaya, who is also a substantial shareholder in Nippan Energy, the Japanese partner in the Jabiru Mine. Ruby Resources also has a minority shareholding.”
Helen continued, “Sarah traced some transactions and has identified three large payments of $750,000 from Northern Consulting to Baobab Trustees. She hasn’t been able to find out who are the owners of Ruby Resources. I’m emailing you a list of the transactions and company structure. Jake does this information mean anything to you?”
“Thanks to both of you for your help. I’m not sure what it means but I’ll go through it carefully and see if I can come up with anything.”
“Jake, I can feel something’s going on here. Is it to do with the new uranium mine?”
“I honestly don’t know Helen, but if I do find anything you will be the first to know. Please thank Sarah for me. I owe you both a dinner.”
“O.K. Jake let me know if I can do anything else?”
“Sure thing Helen, talk soon.” Jake rang off.
Jake pondered over the names he had been given over the phone from Helen. Something bothered him but he couldn’t quite figure it out. He grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper and sat at the table. He wrote down the names of all the companies and people involved in the establishment of the mine. He drew a chart and moved the names around into different groupings. After spending an hour poring over the names he threw his chair back in frustration and decided to go for a walk. It was midday and already hot and the few people that were around were keeping to the shade. He walked into the General Store and bought some bottled water. Bill had told him the local water was safe to drink but he wasn’t prepared to take a risk. He walked over to the souvenir shop which had the helicopter sitting on its iron roof, curious as to how anyone could have hauled it up there without crashing through the roof. As well as the usual tourist souvenirs of T-Shirts, toy kangaroos, boomerangs and beer can holders, all made in China, the store had a jewellery section and a collection of local gemstones, including sapphire, ruby, opal and amethyst. He bought some bracelets made from amethyst as gifts for his nieces. The shopkeeper was at pains to explain that the bracelets were good value for money as they were made from genuine amethyst and not from glass like his competitor in the next shop.
Jake walked out of the shop with his small package. He was planning on leaving Daly Waters the next day to travel to Canberra and Sydney to make some official calls and would finish up his Australian program in Melbourne before returning to Tokyo. He would spend the next weekend in Melbourne catching up with his sister and her husband and their two girls. He always brought presents for the kids and knew they would be disappointed if he didn’t have a ‘surprise’ for them.
Something about the gemstones was playing on his mind. He took his mind back to the conference at Yellow Water. He remembered that someone wore rubies. Then it hit him. Malcolm Crichton always wore a ring with a large ruby set in it. His cufflinks and tie-bar were also set in rubies. He used to own a company that mined gemstones in the Northern Territory but the quality was poor and production ceased. Was this the connection with Ruby Resources or was he being fanciful? It was a tenuous connection at best. He tried to think it through logically. What would Crichton have to gain by setting up such a complex web of companies? Did Crichton have an interest in the rare earths production at Jabiru? As a government minister, he was supposed to divest himself of any interests in companies where there could potentially be a conflict of interest. He had lost the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party because of a previous scandal over his mining investments. There clearly would be a conflict if he had an interest in the Jabiru mine but he could have set up the company offshore to hide his interest.