A West Australian Labor MP facing a lawsuit over an alleged unpaid $1 million loan has been accused of accepting thousands of dollars in accommodation, transport and hospitality during a trip to the United States.
Kannan Amalraj, an American businessman suing Riverton MP Jagadish Krishnan in a New Jersey court, claims he and his company spent about US$5,000 on the politician between May 30 and June 4, 2024.
The alleged hospitality included two nights in an apartment costing US$1,000 a night, three nights at a hotel near Times Square, a US$626 luxury car journey and an evening dinner cruise on the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty.
Amalraj has also alleged that a limousine collected Dr Krishnan and took him to a diner in Connecticut, where the MP delivered a fundraising pitch for Spectrum Health, the GP network he partly owned at the time.
He claims Mr Krishnan later repeated the pitch at his home in Short Hills, New Jersey. Amalraj alleges the loan was sought for Spectrum Health but was ultimately transferred to Codd Technologies, a company directed and solely owned by Mr Krishnan’s wife, Yaamini Jagadish.
MP rejects disclosure concerns
Mr Krishnan, who was parliamentary secretary to Premier Roger Cook when the trip took place, has rejected any suggestion that he breached his obligations as a member of parliament.
He said the visit was private and that he had been assisting his wife, rather than actively conducting business overseas.
“I’ve done everything appropriately in my declarations. My personal declarations have been done appropriately. I’m confident I’ve done the appropriate thing,” he said at a press conference outside his Riverton electorate office.
Under Western Australia’s Members of Parliament (Financial Interests) Act 1992, gifts worth more than $500 must be disclosed if they are not provided by a relative. The same threshold applies to contributions towards travel, subject to exceptions for trips connected to an MP’s professional background or vocation rather than parliamentary activities.
Mr Krishnan did not list any of the hospitality alleged by Amalraj in his annual parliamentary returns. He said he had met all his disclosure obligations and would vigorously defend the legal proceedings.
Loan dispute reaches the courts
Amalraj and his company, Kenyan Consulting LLC, are suing Mr Krishnan and associated family businesses over an alleged US$655,000 loan, equivalent to about $1 million. With interest, they are seeking US$1.2 million.
Amalraj claims the loan was agreed in two stages: an initial oral agreement for US$250,000 over the phone in early May 2024, followed by an agreement on the remainder during Mr Krishnan’s visit to the New York tri-state area later that month.
A loan agreement signed by Mrs Jagadish as a director of Codd Technologies and by Amalraj’s wife, Gokila, on behalf of Kenyan Consulting, sets an annual interest rate of 6 per cent and a nine-year repayment period.
Mr Krishnan has countersued Amalraj and his wife for defamation over emails sent to senior Western Australian politicians, including Mr Cook and Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, concerning the alleged unpaid loan.
His lawyer, Martin Bennett, has described the claims against the MP as baseless and alleged that the emails falsely and maliciously defamed him.
Mr Cook said he had been made aware of the US proceedings but declined to comment on the litigation or whether the alleged hospitality should have been declared.
“I require all MPs to uphold the very highest levels of standards that meet both the criteria and guidelines that we work within, but also in terms of community standards, and that applies to everyone,” he said.
