KEVIN Rudd is facing allegations he lobbied for a whitegoods company formerly owned by his car dealer friend John Grant and a controversial Queensland property developer who recently faced drugs and weapons charges.
Opposition frontbencher Tony Abbott yesterday asked the Prime Minister if he had ever made representations on behalf of a Queensland whitegoods importer, Aussie Rent Pty Ltd.
Mr Rudd said he would have to "check his records" to determine any involvement he might have had with the company, which was dissolved in November last year.
On Monday, Mr Rudd's office was asked by The Age if the Prime Minister had made representations on behalf of Aussie Rent and its importation of whitegoods while on any of his trips to China as Labor's foreign affairs spokesman.
Mr Rudd's office took two days to respond and did not answer the question. A spokesman said only: "All of Mr Rudd's interactions with Mr Grant have been entirely appropriate."
Company documents show Aussie Rent was established in 2004 by Ipswich car dealer Mr Grant and Queensland property developer George Cheihk.
For the past week, the Opposition has raised questions about whether Mr Grant, who supplies Mr Rudd with a ute to use in his electorate, has received special attention under the OzCar financing scheme.
Both Mr Rudd and Mr Grant have denied any favourable treatment, despite Mr Grant receiving a phone call from Treasurer Wayne Swan about his financing difficulties.
Mr Grant lives in the same street as Mr Rudd in the Brisbane suburb of Norman Park.
He is president of the 51 Club, an elite group of Queensland business, political and military figures that meets monthly, often in Brisbane's elite Tattersalls gentlemen's club dining room.
Mr Rudd's office has denied he is a member of the 51 Club. But other members have claimed he has been associated with the group for a decade.
The Age yesterday revealed that Mr Grant and up to 20 other 51 Club members attended a 2002 dinner held to raise money to help Mr Rudd to pay a $32,000 legal bill.
Mr Rudd's office has also refused to answer questions about this matter since Monday.
In Parliament yesterday, Mr Rudd acknowledged Mr Grant's presence at the dinner and said the money had been declared.
Documents show the other director and major shareholder in Aussie Rent was Mr Cheihk, who is well known in Queensland politics as a generous donor to both major parties.
One week after Aussie Rent was dissolved last November, Mr Cheihk appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on charges of assault and possessing ecstasy after he was arrested for holding a 10-centimetre flick knife to the throat of a nightclub patron.
Mr Cheihk pleaded guilty this month to an assault charge stemming from what his lawyers called a "night of madness". He was fined $500 and no conviction was recorded.
In 2007, he was declared bankrupt. The bankruptcy was annulled early last year.
Mr Cheihk, a former director of failed mobile phone retailer Strathfield, was also pursued by the Tax Office over debts from another of his former property development companies. He was the subject of legal action by NRL club Canterbury Bulldogs over alleged sponsorship debts amounting to $100,000.
Mr Cheihk and two associates, including convicted cocaine dealer Joseph Frangieh, were investigated by Queensland police last year after they were involved in a fiery altercation at the Brisbane office of the Courier-Mail newspaper.
Australian Electoral Commission records show several of Mr Cheikh's companies made significant financial contributions to the Queensland ALP and Liberal branches in 2003-04. Collingwood Park Developments donated $206,231 to the Queensland Liberals. Another company, Qld Group Pty Ltd, gave $50,000.
Collingwood Park contributed $89,500 to the Queensland ALP. Another of Mr Cheikh's companies, Haven Road Developments, contributed $50,000 to the ALP, and Qld Group gave $12,000.
Documents show the remaining shareholders in Aussie Rent were Queensland businessman and 51 Club member Neville Imhoff and a company called Sarota Management Services. It was directed by Phillip and Joyce Downes of Birkdale, Queensland.
Mr Imhoff reportedly shut down the 51 Club website earlier this month for "privacy reasons". The website had referred to the club's "strong links to the corridors of power".
Mr Grant is also director of Australian Rental Company, which was founded by his wife Gillian Larkin and included Ipswich mayor and 51 Club member Paul Pisasale as a former shareholder.
Mr Grant did not return calls yesterday. Mr Imhoff said he had had enough of matters to do with Mr Grant and Mr Rudd. The Age contacted Mr Cheikh's Qld Group company but he did not return calls.
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