June 26, 2005
Reporter : Ross Coulthart
Producer : Paul Steindl
Schapelle
Corby probably thought things couldn't get any worse after she'd been
sentenced to 20 years in an Indonesian jail. However, this week things
did get worse. Behind the scenes her defence team, including Gold Coast
lawyer Robin Tampoe and financial backer, Ron Bakir, fell out with her
family, in particular her mother Rosleigh Rose. Following the criticism,
Bakir severed all ties with the Corby family and said he was embittered
by the experience. Also, the Perth QC, Mark Trowell, enlisted by the
Australian Government to run the appeal upset the Indonesian legal
system by suggesting a bribe of $500,000 to the appeal judges was raised
by one of her Indonesian legal team. So Schapelle Corby sacked her
Indonesian lawyers via mobile phone in her jail cell. To make matters
even worse, the prosecution launched its appeal calling for her sentence
to be increased to life. And as Sunday's Ross Coulthart
exclusively reveals, there's more bad news ... now her Australian
lawyer, Robin Tampoe, has decided to pull the plug and leave the Corby
defence team ...TRANSCRIPT:
ROSS COULTHART: "You're fired!" That's what Schapelle Corby said to her Indonesian legal team this week when allegations emerged that they had suggested paying a $500,000 bribe to her appeal court judges would be her best chance. Whether true or not, the fact that such a slur on the Indonesian justice system was made public is a major blow for her and her defence team.
ROBIN
TAMPOE, LAWYER: The Corby case, or Schapelle's case, has in effect gone
down the toilet and they are extremely concerned that on appeal now
that the Indonesian judiciary will be so upset about these comments that
Schapelle will end up in a worse situation than she is now. ROSS COULTHART: What could possibly be worse than 20 years in jail?
ROBIN TAMPOE: Life, death.
ROSS COULTHART: Corby rushed to do what she could to fix the damage, sacking all of her Indonesian legal team, including Lily Lubis, Erwin Siregar, the flamboyant bling-draped Jakarta lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea and the defence team coordinator alleged to have asked for the bribe money, Vasu Rasiah. As you'll see today, Corby's Australian lawyer, Robin Tampoe, flatly denies knowing anything about a planned bribe and he is so infuriated that the bribe plan claim was made public by the Government-appointed Perth QC Mark Trowell that he has decided to quit Team Corby.
ROBIN TAMPOE: In light of what has happened over the last couple of days, in relation to comments being made, I no longer want to be involved in this case.
ROSS COULTHART: You're quitting?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I'm out. I'm out.
ROSS COULTHART: From this morning, both Tampoe and Corby's businessman backer Ron Bakir are out of the case. But not without parting shots responding to savage criticism they copped this week from Schapelle's family. Can you rule out the possibility that whoever put those drugs there was somebody much closer to the Corby family? ROBIN TAMPOE: I think as a lawyer I would be stupid to rule anything out.
ROSS COULTHART: Do you still believe that the most likely scenario for how those drugs got into the boogy board bag is that it was somebody in the airport?
RON BAKIR, BUSINESSMAN: Ross, what I believe is Schapelle Corby is innocent. That's what I believe. ROSS COULTHART: But do you think it could have been somebody in the family? RON BAKIR: I believe Schapelle Corby's innocent, I really do.
TRANSLATOR: A prison sentence of 20 years is handed down with a fine of 100 million rupiah.
ROSS COULTHART: For weeks now, since Schapelle Corby was sentenced to 20 years for drug smuggling, there's been open sniping between the two WA QCs appointed by the Australian Government to help Schapelle's defence and the Indonesian and Australian lawyers who worked on the case for months before they were brought in.
MARK TROWELL QC, LAWYER: Everyone needs to calm down, focus on Schapelle Corby.
ROSS COULTHART: This week, Perth QC Mark Trowell was calling for calm after he revealed that a member of Corby's Bali defence team, Vasu Rasiah, allegedly said that bribing judges may be her only hope. Isn't it proper for him to point out the illegality of such a notion, as a QC?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I think if that was the case, it's something that he should have certainly discussed with the rest of the lawyers involved in this case. I understand that he spoke to Paris Hotman about this and he was told under no circumstances should you broadcast this because it will cause damage, and severe damage. And despite what Mr Hotman said — who, I should point out, was appointed and recommended by Mark Trowell — he still went ahead and broadcast it. So he knew the damage that would be done.
ROSS COULTHART: So you are suggesting the Perth QC has gone against the direct instructions of his solicitor?
ROBIN TAMPOE: Absolutely. He has gone against the direct instructions of a very, very senior Indonesian lawyer, who was appointed, recommended by, this very QC.
ROSS COULTHART: Of course, it's the not first time there's been a whiff of bribery in the Corby case. In April, comments made by Gold Coast mobile phone businessman Ron Bakir were widely interpreted as an accusation that Indonesian prosecutors offered to receive bribes in return for a lighter sentence for Corby.
RON BAKIR: I made an apology for what the media interpreted my discussion with Mr Alan Jones. I made that apology and that's the end of the matter.
ROSS COULTHART: Let's talk hypothetically here for a moment. If it was true that a bribe was going to be offered, do you think it would be a good idea to raise the fact publicly?
RON BAKIR: No, I don't. Mr Trowell came out a number of weeks ago and said publicly that Ron Bakir should "zip his lips". All I can say is, they were your comments, Mr Trowell. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
ROSS COULTHART: Have you been involved in any discussions about a proposal to bribe the Indonesian judges?
RON BAKIR: No.
ROSS COULTHART: Do you think it would be a good idea to bribe the Indonesian judges?
RON BAKIR: No.
ROSS COULTHART: Why not? Isn't the Indonesian justice system corrupt?
RON BAKIR: Look, I won't go there, Ross.
ROSS COULTHART: This week, Schapelle's mother, Ros, also weighed in with criticisms of the Perth QC, Mark Trowell, for revealing the alleged bribe plan. ROSLEIGH ROSE: This QC, I'd like to wring his bloody neck, for sure, put a sock in his gob.
ROSS COULTHART: But Rosleigh Rose also fired salvos of her own at Tampoe and Bakir. In this week's 'Bulletin' magazine she labelled Bakir "a black knight", claiming he'd told her daughter in jail, in her presence, that Schapelle owed him $500,000 for the help he had given her defence team. Then she went further, on 'A Current Affair'. ROSLEIGH ROSE: And then I remember he tapped Schapelle on the leg and said, "Don't worry, you'll have heaps of time to pay it back."
RAY MARTIN: You got this fax from Bali, from the legal team, and here is a series of questions and answers. Questions I was supposed to ask you and answers you were supposed to give.
ROSLEIGH ROSE: Yes.
RAY MARTIN: The questions are, for example, "Have the QCs assisted..." Let me ask you the question — Have the QCs assisted you?
ROSLEIGH ROSE: Yes.
RAY MARTIN: But you're supposed to say, the answer they said, "To my knowledge, no. They have done nothing but criticise our supporters and legal team, and I don't know why." Is that true?
ROSLEIGH ROSE: I know that's what it says. That's why I'm not using that paper. I looked at it and I went, "That's totally wrong."
ROSS COULTHART: Did you have any role at all in the drafting of those questions and answers?
ROBIN TAMPOE: Absolutely none.
ROSS COULTHART: To your knowledge, has Ros Corby ever been present when Schapelle Corby has been talking to Mr Bakir?
ROBIN TAMPOE: Never. Never.
ROSS COULTHART: Ros Corby's alleged this week that she was present with you in the jail in Bali when you asked Schapelle Corby for $500,000.
RON BAKIR: Let me say this very clearly — Ros Corby has never ever been in the presence of me and Schapelle Corby at the same time. I have never visited Schapelle Corby in jail while Ros Corby was there.
ROSS COULTHART: So you're saying she is lying?
RON BAKIR: I'm saying she is a liar for saying that, and it disappoints me and saddens me that she would say something like that.
ROSS COULTHART: Is there any truth in the suggestion that you have asked Schapelle Corby for money?
RON BAKIR: Absolutely not. And not only do I deny it, Schapelle has simply stated to her Indonesian lawyer that I have not asked her for $500,000 and I have not asked her for money.
ROSS COULTHART: What do you think is the public's perception of Ron Bakir right now?
RON BAKIR: Ron Bakir's done the wrong thing by the family, that Ron Bakir's ripped off the family that Ron Bakir had other motives than to help Schapelle Corby.
ROSS COULTHART: Is that true?
RON BAKIR: Absolutely not.
ROSS COULTHART: As we showed you in May, Ron Bakir has clearly enjoyed the publicity gained from his public backing of Schapelle Corby. Here on the Gold Coast, until recently, Bakir has been a popular local celebrity. But he is now flinching from the heat of that same publicity flame — adverse stories about his mobile phone business are just some of the blowback that this week saw the embattled entrepreneur pull out from any more support for Corby's defence.
RON BAKIR: Everything I have done has been in the best interests of Schapelle Corby. All the money that has been spent has been spent in the interests of Schapelle Corby. Ron Bakir has not recouped one dollar, Ron Bakir has not put to the family that it should pay him back. Ron Bakir has never demanded $500,000. So all of that is untrue. What is true is that I have not earned one dollar and the Corby family have. See, what people must understand is this — is that Ros Corby is making statements that are not coming from Schapelle Corby. That's what people must understand. Ros Corby is not the one that's in jail, is not the one that's speaking for Schapelle.
ROSS COULTHART: Bakir admits that after months of growing legal bills, he did at one stage ask Schapelle to sign a contract giving him half of everything she made for selling her story.
RON BAKIR: I ripped the contract up four weeks later. I went into the jail and I sat with Schapelle and I grabbed the contract and I said, "Schapelle, I don't want this contract. I never wanted this contract. It was never about me making money, never about me trying to recoup money," and I went to rip the contract up and Schapelle grabbed my arm and said, "I don't want you to rip it up. If anybody is entitled to anything, that is you." And I said, "I don't want it." And I ripped the contract up, and I stand by that.
ROSS COULTHART: So your position is there is not a contract in place?
RON BAKIR: Absolutely not. There is not a contract in place.
ROSS COULTHART: Why did you ever sign such a contract? If you weren't interested in making money why did you ever sign such a contract in the first place?
RON BAKIR: Sure. When I first got involved in this I thought it would be an easy task — I would spend $40,000 or $50,000, and that's it. But it was much harder than that. I spent a lot of money. When it got to a state where — a couple of months or three months into it — I had spent $200,000 or $300,000, I then put a contract in place on suggestions of Indonesian law team. Now, that's a mistake.
ROSS COULTHART: You admit that that was a really stupid thing to do?
RON BAKIR: Absolutely. That's why I ripped up the contract. Because my intention was never to make money out of this.
ROBIN TAMPOE: I know this for a fact. I know that Ron Bakir did a number of deals for the Corby family and the Corby family have made a substantial amount of money from those deals, and I know for a fact that Ron Bakir hasn't profited one cent from any of those moneys. So from where I'm sitting, the only people that I've seen who are profiting from Schapelle Corby being in jail is the Corby family.
ROSS COULTHART: Sunday asked Schapelle's mother, Rosleigh Rose, for her side of the story, but she refused to talk to us, saying she had said all she intended to say about the matter. But as an angry Robin Tampoe walked away from the case this week, he questioned the Corby family's failure to be honest about far more serious issues, which he said had jeopardised Schapelle's defence. When you started this case, the key issue, obviously, was to ask whether there is anything in the family that might provide an explanation.
ROBIN TAMPOE: Yep.
ROSS COULTHART: Did you ask the family if anyone had a criminal conviction or any connections at all with drugs?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I remember the conversation well. I was at the villa in Bali, and Mercedes was there and Jodie, a family friend, and Ron Bakir. It wasn't me who asked the question. Ron Bakir asked that question. The answer was no.
ROSS COULTHART: When it subsequently came out that the father had a conviction years ago for a marijuana offence, a very minor one...
ROBIN TAMPOE: Yep.
ROSS COULTHART: ..but that, more importantly, I think, her step-brother, Schapelle's step-brother, Clinton, had quite a long series of criminal offences and convictions and in fact is serving time in jail at the moment, were you surprised?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I was surprised and I was very upset. One of the comments — and I stand by this — I have said this and I've said this publicly, I don't expect Michael Corby Senior to tell his children about something that happened to him in the '70s. I am certain if I was in his position I probably wouldn't tell my daughters about that, something he'd want to bury from his family. I have no problem with that. Certainly, Mercedes has said to me she didn't know about this. But the issue of Clinton Rose is a different issue because it is something that the media seized on and they seized on just before the verdict. So it's been this situation where you wake up every morning, open the paper, and it's damage control. Why weren't we told this? Why didn't we know about this?
ROSS COULTHART: You were lied to?
ROBIN TAMPOE: Certainly on that point, absolutely, absolutely. Because it was known, it was not disclosed to us.
ROSS COULTHART: Do you believe you were lied to by members of the Corby family? RON BAKIR: I believe that certain members of the Corby family have not done the right thing and have been unappreciative.
ROSS COULTHART: The inevitable accusation is, "He's saying this now because he's copped a bollocking from Ros Corby." What do you say?
RON BAKIR: Time tells the truth all the time. That's what I will say.
ROSS COULTHART: You're not saying this out of spite?
RON BAKIR: Absolutely not.
ROSS COULTHART: When Indonesian prosecutors recommended a 20-year sentence for Corby nearly two months ago, it was undoubtedly a terrible shock for Schapelle. A time when she needed support from her family. But Robin Tampoe also makes this serious accusation against Schapelle's sister Mercedes about a conversation he had with her that day.
ROBIN TAMPOE: This is one of the things which I think upset me greatly, was the day the prosecution recommended a 20-year sentence and I had a conversation with Mercedes before I went into court and she said to me, "If the prosecutor asks for a hard sentence I won't be able to deal with this, I'm going to run out of here. Will you see Schapelle in the holding cell." I said, "Of course I will." The prosecutor asked for life. I went to the holding cell amongst all the chaos to see Schapelle. I was holding her hand while she was crying. I find out down the track that she ran out of there to do a live interview for $30,000 with 'New Idea'. So that is the situation I find myself in. I'm holding her sister's hand while she's making $30,000 with 'New Idea' and that, from my point of view, sickens me.
ROSS COULTHART: Mercedes Corby told Sunday she did do the interview that day but she is adamant she was in fact very upset for her sister, contrary to any impression Mr Tampoe might have gained. How much money have they made?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I don't know the exact figures. I know that, for example, in Ros's case, I know she's under contract to 'A Current Affair', for example. I know that, her personally, she's earned, this is before the verdict, in excess of $100,000. Now, I sit here and I hear the comments, the spin that has been made by the Government in relation to how much money they funded the Indonesian lawyers. The fact of that matter is that an amount of $46,000, a cheque was paid. It took some time to get that cheque. The cheque was made out to the wrong person. The Indonesian lawyers to this day have been unable to cash that cheque, have it replaced. But I do know for a fact that in excess of $200,000 was sent by Ron Bakir to Indonesia and I know a substantial amount of money has been used by the Indonesian lawyers to fund this defence.
ROSS COULTHART: Ros Corby this week suggested her daughter had been kept in the dark by her defence team.
ROSLEIGH ROSE: They've played mind games with that poor girl and she had to do it. ROSS COULTHART: But as Schapelle languishes in her Kerebokam jail cell, facing at least 20 years inside, the lawyer who's got to know her possibly better than anyone outside the family offered this parting comment.
ROBIN TAMPOE: What I would love is Schapelle to have her say. It seems to me when I see her that so much of what is going on outside that jail cell is not disclosed to her. ROSS COULTHART: How much of the money that the family has earned do you think she knows about?
ROBIN TAMPOE: I think she probably knows very little about how much has been earned by the family.
ROSS COULTHART: Is there any evidence that you've seen that much or any of that money has been spent on Schapelle Corby's defence?
ROBIN TAMPOE: From the money the family has made from their interviews, to my knowledge — this has been confirmed — the Indonesian lawyers have not received any money from the funds they've earned from interviews, nothing at all.
ROSS COULTHART: Is that unusual to you? If you had a child who was in jail in Indonesia facing serious charges...
ROBIN TAMPOE: I'd... I'd... I'd sell my kidneys, whatever it takes.
ROSS COULTHART: And this too from Ron Bakir. If somebody out there watching this has evidence that could definitively solve this case once and for all, whether it's good or bad for Schapelle Corby or any member of the Corby family, what would you say to them?
RON BAKIR: You must come forward, you MUST come forward. Without a doubt in the world, you must come forward if you have any evidence, anything whatsoever, that will help solve this case.
ROSS COULTHART: What are you going to do though if it proves that Schapelle Corby is guilty?
RON BAKIR: I will be absolutely shocked and devastated if that was the case. I would have to be one of the most dumbest people on the face of this earth.
ROSS COULTHART: Because there is a possibility you have been had, isn't there?
RON BAKIR: I don't think by Schapelle Corby.
