A whistleblower raised the possibility that senior managers may have overseen a decision to award their own companies multi-million-dollar contracts at a controversial Australian coal mine, which has since collapsed into insolvency.
The Dartbrook coal mine in the NSW Hunter Valley is a joint venture between ASX-listed Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) and privately-owned Tetra Resources.
The ABC understands AQC engaged an external firm to forensically investigate after receiving a complaint about the relationship between the mine and key executives at its joint venture partner, Tetra.
The investigators' report, carried out by financial firm Mcgrath Nicol by examining the mine's finances between January 2022 and June 2024, has never been made public.
AQC commissioned the report after a whistleblower raised concerns about "a number of related parties … benefiting as preferred suppliers", concerns which the report's authors also held after investigating the mine.
It made damning findings of apparent conflicts of interest by senior managers, which were expressed as "preliminary findings".
Dartbrook was revived at the end of 2024 after sitting disused for decades, but in July plunged into administration and receivership due to defaulting on a $202 million loan.
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