Kiwi sues Aussie coal barons

New Zealander Neville Crichton is suing some of Australia's wealthiest coal barons and two of its most high-profile stockbrokers for ''misleading and deceptive conduct'' over millions of dollars secretly funnelled to the family of the Australian Labour Party (ALP) powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

Sydney-based Crichton has filed a writ in the Federal Court in Sydney alleging that nearly A$5m (NZ$6.2m) he paid for shares in Cascade Coal - the coalmining company now at the heart of Australia's most explosive corruption inquiry in decades - was instead directed elsewhere.

Crichton's Ateco Automotive NZ Pty invested almost A$5m into the scheme, and his co-plaintiff's Denis O'Neil's company put in nearly A$8m ... READ MORE

Released by Fairfax - 30 January 2013