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Police found undisclosed but ‘unconsummated’ Schapelle contract in Seven raids

Police raid Seven offices via @markwburrows

Police raid Seven offices via @markwburrows

Police found a document relating to a deal Channel Seven had struck with the family of Schapelle Corby during raids at the company offices on Tuesday, although Seven’s CEO Tim Worner insists it was an “unsigned agreement for a deal never consummated”.

Yesterday Worner wrote to the Attorney General George Brandis complaining about the “unprecedented step” the Australian Federal Police took by  raiding the broadcaster’s offices on Tuesday.

The raid followed speculation Seven had agreed to pay convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby between $1m and $3m for exclusive interview rights following her ordeal, split between Sunday Night and one of its magazines, New Idea.

In the letter Worner records the concerns of the Seven West Media board and management after police executed the search warrant with an estimated 34 officers, many of them “armed, in a peaceful office setting”, he said.

On Tuesday afternoon the AFP released a statement saying their officers did not overstep their bounds during the raids.

Worner provides a rundown of Seven’s dealings with police starting with Corby’s release from jail in Bali on February 10 and the production order served by police the next day, requiring Seven to produce various categories of business documents by 4pm on February 14.

Seven provided paperwork pertaining to a deal signed with Schapelle Corby’s sister Mercedes on February 7, in which she agreed to provide Seven’s Sunday Night program with an exclusive interview and use her best endeavours to procure the agreement of her sister to also be interviewed.

However Worner maintains “no fee is pursuant to this agreement.”

Worner also gives details of Seven’s solicitor Justine Munsie’s communication with police following the production order, up until she was served with a letter requesting further information at her home on Monday, and her provision of  further documents, before the raid on Tuesday.

Worner makes clear in the letter that copies of contracts between New Idea magazine and members of the Corby family were handed over to police, as were notices of payments made under contracts between 2011 and 2014, and documents in response to the production order relating to an agreement Seven entered into with Mercedes Corby on February 7.

He said: “Ms Munsie indicated to the officer that she was distressed by the allegation and extremely concerned that on the face of the order, a Magistrate had been provided with information that satisfied him that she may have committed a criminal offence. Ms Munsie has invited the AFP (Australian Federal Police) to respond to her concerns but has not heard further from them.”

Read the full letter here

During the raid Worner and the board were locked in a meeting with shareholders to release their half year financial results.

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