John Cherry,a former key adviser to Kerry Packer,sold his land to the Obeid family in late 2007.Credit:Kate Geraghty
John Cherry,who was a key adviser to the late media mogul Kerry Packer,told the NSW Supreme Court that he had “no idea that there was coal” under his land when he sold his rural property Cherrydale Park to the Obeid family in late 2007.
Mr Cherry said the entire Obeid family had come to inspect the property with the then politician referring to his five sons collectively as the"’Boyz’ with a ‘z’".
When later asked if he’d met all the ‘Boyz with a z’,Mr Cherry replied,“There was just a great big crowd of Obeids” and they were “rather annoying”.
The court has previously heard that even before the tender process was formally announced in late 2008,the Obeids – equipped with inside information allegedly provided to them by Macdonald – were busy positioning themselves to gain a windfall. They eventually negotiated a $30 million payout from the winning bidder with the promise of a further $30 million,the court has heard.
Former Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald are facing a criminal trial in the NSW Supreme Court.Credit:Dean Sewell
The Obeids finalised the purchase in November 2008. The price was $3.65 million,which included $250,000 for everything except Mr Cherry’s art works.
The sale was vendor financed with Mr Cherry advancing the Obeids $2.38 million from his superannuation fund and another $250,000 from Mr Cherry personally.