Mr Craig Bond, son of the disgraced Australian tycoon, Alan Bond, has met the Bula Resources board in Dublin to tell them of his alleged ownership of the mystery British Virgin Islands company, Mir Oil.
It is the first meeting Bula has had with a representative of the company it entered into business with over two years ago. The meeting took place on Monday.
Mr Bond (39) is understood to be saying he is the beneficial owner of Mir Oil and was the owner in 1995 when Bula entered into an agreement with Mir and transferred 101 million Bula shares to it. He is known to have documents granting him power of attorney to act for Mir Oil. The power was granted on November 17th.
Mr Bond is saying he at one time was considering a takeover of Bula. It was for this reason, and because of ongoing controversy in Australia connected with his family, that he had not revealed his identity earlier, according to sources.
The Government has appointed an inspector, barrister Mr Lyndon McCann, to investigate the current ownership of Mir Oil and who owned the company in 1995. Mr McCann has not yet met with Mr Bond.
At the time the deal was agreed between Mir Oil, Bula, and a Russian company, KMNGG, the board of Bula believed Mir was owned by a Mr Charles Ellis, of South Africa. This has since been denied by Mr Ellis.
The deal involves an oil field in Siberia. It was negotiated for Bula by its then chairman and chief executive, Mr Jim Stanley. Mr Stanley is currently in Moscow. Requests for a comment from Mr Stanley, conveyed to the office he is believed to be using in the Russian capital, have met with no response to date.
One of the reasons Mr Bond has come forward, is in order to relieve the pressure on Mr Stanley caused by the mystery surrounding the ownership of Mir Oil, according to one source. Mr Stanley is due to meet Mr McCann in Moscow on December 8th.
One of the central issues which needs explanation is how Mr Stanley came to tell the board of Bula that Mir Oil was owned by Mr Ellis. Mr Ellis has denied ownership of any group of shares or any involvement whatsoever in the Bula/Mir deal.
Mr Bond, it is understood, is denying any knowledge of any arrangement involving Mr Ellis or the use of his name.
Mr Bond's involvement in the whole affair came as a surprise to most parties. He was first mentioned two weeks ago, when Mr Stanley introduced him to some representatives of KMNGG in Moscow.
Mr Bond lives in Western Australia but sometimes stays at Upp Hall, a mansion on a 380-acre estate in Hertfordshire, England. He is being represented in the discussions with Bula by Mr Michael Coleman, of Harkavy's solicitors, London.
Mr Bond's father, Alan, is currently in prison in connection with one of the largest ever corporate frauds. During the 1980s, Alan Bond's fortune was estimated at approximately £170 million.
It is estimated that assets worth millions of pounds are held in trusts for his children, John, Craig, Suzanne and Jodie. Mr Craig Bond's involvement in the Bula affair, first disclosed in The Irish Times last Saturday, is receiving extensive media coverage in Australia.
