Well-known WA mining entrepreneur Peter Bartlett has told the District Court trial of his former "protégé" that he was in "shock", "stunned" and "broken" when he was accused of gold stealing and that he repeatedly "begged" him to change his police statement.
Patrick Ryhan Keogh, 42, the former general manager of gold miner FMR Investments, is one of five people on trial over the alleged theft of gold-bearing ore from the company's Greenfields Mill near Coolgardie.
Mr Keogh's co-accused include two of his former subordinates and two directors of a privately owned earthmoving and haulage company.
The group is accused of stealing 8,465 tonnes of gold ore from Greenfields Mill, owned by FMR Investments, between December 2018 and January 2019.
The gold ore had an estimated value of $1.17 million, based on gold prices at the time.
The court has previously heard Mr Keogh shared a "mentor and protégé" relationship with Mr Bartlett, and his defence claims that his former boss gifted him the gold-bearing ore as a "reward".
'I couldn't believe it'
On the fifth day of hearings on Monday, Mr Bartlett took the witness stand where he told the court he had been on fishing trips with Mr Keogh, gifted him a Monaro car, and had been "very good friends" with his father Aidan Keogh for 40 years.
Mr Bartlett founded underground mining contractor Barminco, and then spun out FMR Investments – which stands for "fishing, mining and racing" – following the sale of Barminco in 2007.
Mr Keogh was appointed to the top job at FMR Investments in 2009 and Mr Bartlett said he regularly received bonuses of $50,000 if the company's operations were running smoothly.
"I was guiding Paddy to take over the business," Mr Bartlett said.
Mr Bartlett told the court the first he heard about the allegations was when he was contacted by Detective Sergeant Chris King of the Kalgoorlie-based Gold Stealing Detection Unit in January 2021.
"I couldn't believe it," Mr Bartlett said.
"I was stunned … I just couldn't believe he would do it."
The prosecution showed a text message exchange between Mr Bartlett and Mr Keogh in January 2021 when the latter arranged to visit his employer's house in Busselton.
Mr Bartlett told the court it was the first of at least three meetings between the pair when Mr Keogh allegedly tried to get him to change his statement.
He said, on one occasion, Mr Keogh and his wife Stacey visited the Bartlett house in Busselton.
"I said I wouldn't [change my statement] … I wouldn't perjure myself," Mr Bartlett said.
"He was pretty upset … he was half crying, he pleaded with me to change my statement.
"He apologised for doing what he'd done … he said 'I'm sorry, I wasn't in my right mind, I've been under stress at work'.
"I'm sure I said 'it's too late Paddy'.
"Paddy was half begging, going on about changing my statement."
A third meeting, Mr Bartlett said, occurred at a café in Busselton when Mr Keogh's father attended.
"Aidan [Keogh] was saying he was going to pay it all back," he said.
"Paddy just begged me to change my statement."
'Read between the lines'
During a brief cross-examination late Monday, Mr Keogh's lawyer Seamus Rafferty told the court that there was no mention of his client "begging" Mr Bartlett to change his story in two official police statements.
The first statement, signed by Mr Bartlett on November 18, 2021, was seven pages long.
The second 10-page statement was signed on February 23, less than a fortnight before the trial began.
Mr Bartlett told Mr Rafferty to "read between the lines".
"There's nothing in there about Patrick Keogh begging you to change your statement," Mr Rafferty said.
"If you say so," Mr Bartlett replied.
"It's not in your statement," Mr Rafferty added.
"The first time you've mentioned anything about Patrick Keogh asking you to change your statement is as you sit there today."
Mr Bartlett was handed copies of both his police statements and said "I can't find it", adding "it might of slipped my mind".
Five accused fighting charges
Mr Keogh and former mill manager Christopher Robert Burns, 76, of Geographe, have both pleaded not guilty to stealing as a servant, and charges that they engaged directly or indirectly in a transaction that involved money that is the proceeds of an offence.
The court has heard Mr Keogh and Mr Burns were each paid $587,291, equivalent to a 25 per cent cut, from a milling campaign that used the gold-bearing ore the prosecution says belonged to FMR Investments.
Former mill foreman Morgan Whitney Dombroski, 33, of Boulder, is fighting charges of stolen or unlawfully obtained property, and engaging in a transaction involving money that is the proceeds of an offence.
The court has heard Mr Burns gave Ms Dombroski $90,000 out of his $587,291 payment.
Business partners Russell Wilson Holden, 51, and Simon Leslie Gash, 57, who are both directors of Aqua Alluvial Pty Ltd, which processed its own gold alongside the allegedly stolen ore, are also fighting various money laundering and fraud charges.
The trial before Judge Christopher Stevenson continues.
