Diablo win for partner of former rich-lister

A LEGAL wrangle over a $240,000 Lamborghini seized at a drug baron’s home has taken a new twist, with the Russian former defacto of a Gold Coast corporate spiv winning custody of the car after the State Government agreed to settle the long-running saga.

Nelli Gennad’evna Erchova, 51, an accountant from Helensvale, succeeded in the Supreme Court on September 10 in claiming the 1991 black Lamborghini Diablo.

The car was seized by police on March 25, 2014, when it was found parked at cannabis kingpin Justin Corke’s Pimpama home during raids. The case was in court for five years.

Ms Erchova’s barrister Charles Wilson told the court on September 10 that the state and Ms Erchova had “settled the matter as between themselves”.

Justice James Douglas ordered the Public Trustee to return the car to Ms Erchova to an address on the Gold Coast within 14 days of service of a sealed copy of the court order.

Ms Erchova, also known as Nelli Robertson, successfully claimed the car was a 40th birthday gift to her from her defacto partner, Rick Mayne, a deceased Gold Coast corporate spiv, in 2008.

Mayne is best known for being one of the state’s shortest lived multi-millionaires. He was once worth $50 million, when his unlisted company Split-Cycle Technology raised about $200 million from mum and dad investors by claiming to have invented a revolutionary engine for cars.

Mayne’s engine was never used in a car and the company collapsed, causing thousands of investors to lose money.

The Lamborghini was seized by the state of Queensland under proceeds of crime laws after it was found during a drug raid of Corke’s home.

Corke was sentenced on February 6, 2017, to six years and six months prison for cannabis trafficking and cannabis possession.