Administrators found that Clive Palmer was likely acting as a shadow director and have referred the parliamentarian for criminal charges to the corporate watchdog. Credit:Glenn Hunt Mr Palmer, who faces the prospect of public examinations by liquidators if they are appointed, did not respond to repeated calls. Palmer's piggy bank "We saw Queensland Nickel as the piggy bank, the treasury and the money was coming through QN in the better times and it was being dissipated amongst the Palmer empire entities to where it was required," Mr Park told the media after the release of the report. Mr Park said if were not for the transactions QN could still be operating despite the drop in the price of nickel, but now the company had entered administration it would take "tens and tens of millions" to reopen the Yabulu plant.

Safety of workers were compromised by lax maintenance at the plant in the months before it closed, Mr Park alleged. Of the $224 million flowing from QN to related parties, close to $23 million was repaid. More than $189 million in loans owing to QN were forgiven and Mr Park said administrators expected Mr Palmer to vigorously defend the company's decision to forgive these loans. Unsecured creditors get payout Unsecured creditors will receive 52.31¢ in the dollar as a result of the liquidation of the company in a best-case scenario. Staff who are owed more than $70 million are priority creditors. FTI's damning report found several potential breaches of the Corporations Act by the directors of the company, including possibly breaching Section 184 which refers to a breach of director duties as a criminal offence.

Mr Park said the company may have been run recklessly. "One of the issues is that we certainly are concerned about is the fact the way the business was run recklessly with respect to it being used as a central treasury with money just going all over the place with very much a lack of accountability in that regard," Mr Park said. FTI's report said it had investigated the conduct of "various individuals" whom may have acted in the capacity of a shadow/de facto director. Palmer admits alias Mr Palmer this morning admitted using the alias Terry Smith but denied being a director and any wrongdoing. Mr Park said there appeared to be transactions orchestrated via Mr Palmer's Terry Smith address.

"Our observations indicate Mr Palmer, a former director of the company, appears to have acted as a shadow/de facto director of QN at all material times from February 2012 up to the date of our appointment on 18 January 2016 (excluding any tenure as appointed Director, as outlined below)," the FTI report says. "Based on the evidence available to date, the administrators have conducted investigations on the basis that Mr Palmer is a shadow/de facto director of QN, and owed the same duties to QN as the formally appointed director, Mr Mensink," the report says. Mr Park said he had also investigated a priority deed drawn up four days before QN went under between Waratah Coal, China First and Queensland Nickel – all companies related to Mr Palmer. He said a condition of the deed was that all of the Palmer company debts were forgiven. "We just saw that and immediately said that's obviously completely uncommercial," Mr Park said. Waratah claims it is owed $100 million and China First has listed a creditors' claim for $135 million but Mr Park said he had legal advice the claims could be voided.

Mr Park's report has been handed to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which is conducting an investigation into the collapse of QN. Creditors will vote on whether to place the company into liquidation on April 22.