GINA Rinehart's children were days from being potential billionaires when Australia's wealthiest woman pushed the family trust release date back more than 50 years.
Explosive court documents released yesterday reveal the bitter extent of how money has torn Australia's richest family apart.
Mrs Rinehart, estimated to be worth $17.1 billion, has also been accused of offering quarterly payments to eldest daughter Bianca in exchange for dropping the "unnecessary" legal action.
Three Rinehart children - Hope, Bianca and John - are suing to have their mother removed as head of the family trust amid allegations of "serious misconduct". Youngest daughter Ginia Rinehart sided with her mother.
The Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, set up by Lang Hancock in 1988, owns a quarter of the shares in Mrs Rinehart's primary company Hancock Prospecting.
Emails tendered to the NSW Supreme Court show the trust was estimated to be worth at least $2.4 billion at the time of its vesting on September 6 last year when Ginia turned 25 - but the rise of Mrs Rinehart's wealth means it may now enable the children to receive more than $1 billion each if their legal action succeeds.
The statement of claim filed last year alleges Mrs Rinehart contacted her children a business day before the vesting date to say capital gains tax meant they would be bankrupted if they took the money now.
The children were to sign an agreement allowing Mrs Rinehart long-term control of the trust, documents say.
But it is suggested the magnate had already secretly changed the vesting date to July 1, 2068.
The letter also says "it may however be reasonably arguable that personal development wise it would be in the best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work and reconsider their holidaying lifestyles and attitudes".
Mrs Rinehart told her children the bankruptcy advice came from Pricewaterhouse-Coopers - but the three claim their efforts to get those account details were denied.
In Bianca's statement of claim, she says Mrs Rinehart's chief financial officer Jay Newby emailed her on September 6 offering her "quarterly" payments in return for immediate dropping the case.
"What dollar amounts would you like to receive on a quarterly basis, provided of course you promptly arrange for the unnecessary (proceedings) to be dropped today," the claim says.
Ginia yesterday issued a statement that she didn't want her siblings as trustees because they lack "the perseverance, work ethic, responsibility and dedication ... to administer the trust".
Source:http://www.news.com.au/business/days-away-from-being-billionaires-gina-rinehart-locks-trust-for-half-a-century/story-e6frfm1i-1226297628893
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