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It is believed Mr Richter was promised a 15 per cent return.

The mine's licence is now at the centre of a tussle between a company part-owned by Mr Richter, and an East Gippsland mining contractor who is owed $700,000 for work at the site.

Emails show that by early 2012, everyone associated with the mine was excited about its prospects.

"It certainly looks like we're on a winner," Mr Richter wrote in an email to Mr Tomas, Mr Giovinazzo and Melbourne accountant Gary Samuel after receiving a favourable geological report from Hugh Rutter – the man who discovered BHP Billiton's giant Olympic Dam mine.

But as time passed, the project began to flounder.

The situation worsened this year when the companies associated with the mine's revival, licence holder Rocky Mining, and Starlodge, went into voluntary administration. Mr Tomas declined to discuss the mine.

Asked about his decision to become involved in the venture, Mr Richter said: "I am a barrister, not an experienced businessman and to the extent that any business decisions I've made have, with hindsight, been unwise they were made in good faith, not in any professional capacity, and have caused me to lose a great deal of money".

Minutes of creditors' meetings for Starlodge show that Cassilis Mining Pty Ltd, a company owned by Mr Richter and Mr Samuel, claims to have lent Starlodge $1 million.

Mr Samuel, who was also acting as Starlodge's accountant at the time of the loans, said he regretted putting more money into the project.

He and Mr Richter are now waiting for Rocky Mining's liquidator to award them the licence for the site on the basis of a 2012 agreement.

However, doubt has been cast on the 2012 licence transfer deal, with an administrator describing it as a possible uncommercial transaction.

The other licence claimant is a local contractor, Mick Proelss, who has never been paid for $700,000 in work he has done at the site. The County Court has ordered that he receive that money, plus $200,000 in costs. But the collapse of the companies behind the mine means he has not been paid.

Mr Proelss, whose writ did not name Mr Richter, Mr Samuel or their company owing him money, has asked Victoria's Resources Minister, Lily D'Ambrosio, to investigate the saga. He would like to be given the licence as compensation and wants to operate the mine himself.

Mr Richter and Mr Samuel also want the mine licence, although they have already made a deal to sell their company to ASX-listed miner, Reedy Lagoon, in return for four million shares and an annual royalty payment. .

For now, though, a mine that promised so much has been nothing more than a parable about fool's gold.

"Busy professional people should remind themselves that they ought to devote as much care to their personal affairs as they do looking after the interests of their clients," Mr Richter said. "Any neglect to do so has cost me and my family dearly over the years."

Mr Proelss just wants to be paid for the work he's already done. "I have tried every avenue to resolve this. I did not choose to invest my money into this project but rather chose to work hard for my company and my family. There are a lot of questions that still remain unanswered," he said.

Source : https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/top-qc-robert-richter-loses-big-in-gold-mine-linked-to-underworld-figures-20151209-glj1gk.html