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Embattled Turnbull government minister Stuart Robert could be called to give evidence in court amid claims he overstepped his role as an MP in a dispute between a Gold Coast property developer and an Australian man who spent five years trapped in a legal nightmare in Dubai.
As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull comes under mounting pressure to sack Mr Robert over his controversial 2014 trip to China, Fairfax Media can reveal the Human Services Minister's role in the messy Marcus Lee saga could come under fresh scrutiny.
Mr Robert made two contentious speeches about the case and in emails also acted as an intermediary between Mr Lee and Sunland Group, a Gold Coast firm led by Soheil Abedian and son Sahba. He says he was only doing his job as a local member and denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Lee is an accountant and property executive who was arrested on fraud charges in Dubai in 2009 after a land deal went bad between his firm Nakheel and Sunland Group, .
He spent nine months in jail and then a further four years under effective house arrest. He was fully acquitted in 2013 and finally returned home to Australia in 2014.
He is now suing Sunland and its directors - including Soheil Abedian, David Brown and Ronald Eames - for more than $10 million for loss of income, distress and legal costs.
The case accuses Sunland of malicious prosecution, conspiracy to injure and negligence for "providing false statements and legal advice" to Dubai authorities.
Sunland has sought to have the case thrown out of the Queensland Supreme Court but sources say if the trial goes ahead, Mr Robert's role is likely to be examined and there is a "distinct possibility" he will be called to testify.
Asked whether he would be prepared to testify in court, Mr Robert said: "Haven't thought about it".
Mr Robert became publicly involved in the saga when he made two 2012 speeches in Parliament defending Sunland - which is based in his Gold Coast-based electorate of Fadden - and accusing media of not reporting both sides of the story.
Speaking under parliamentary privilege, Mr Robert was critical of Mr Lee while lauding Sunland as a "solid Australian corporate citizen" and its directors as "fine, upstanding men" and "pillars of the community".
The speeches sent shockwaves through Mr Lee's camp, who felt Mr Robert's speech was ill-informed and could have a devastating impact on his bid for freedom.
A friend of Mr Lee, Rosemary Adams, subsequently contacted Mr Robert in an effort to convince him he'd been wrong. Mr Robert then began to act as an intermediary between Ms Adams and Soheil Abedian, Sunland's founder.
In emails seen by Fairfax Media, sent in early 2013, Mr Robert - then in opposition - conveys messages back and forth between the camps. He tells Ms Adams that Mr Abedian wants a statutory declaration about Mr Lee's role in the Dubai deal in exchange for an amended letter of support from Sunland to Dubai prosecutors.
At one point, Mr Robert tells Ms Adams: "I think time is now running out for Marcus to have a bargaining chip".
Ms Adams responds that Mr Lee's freedom is not a "bargaining chip" and he is not in a position to provide a stat dec about something he was not involved in.
Fairfax Media is not alleging any wrongdoing and Mr Robert says he acted appropriately.
"I was acting as a local member, that's what I do," the minister told Fairfax Media this week.
But Mr Lee subsequently wrote to former prime minister Tony Abbott to complain about Mr Robert's role and call for a correction to the Hansard record.
In the October 2014 letter obtained by Fairfax, Mr Lee told Mr Abbott that Mr Robert's speeches and actions added to his post-traumatic stress related disorders.
"On any analysis, a member of your government was clearly bargaining with my liberty for the benefit of his constituents," he wrote. "When I heard this I felt that I was being blackmailed at a time when I was at my most vulnerable."
"He has never apologised and never sought to justify his actions to me."
Mr Lee was subsequently given the rare opportunity to make a statement to the House of Representatives detailing his acquittal and responding to Mr Robert's speeches.
Mr Robert says Mr Abedian is a constituent, not a friend, and he took no view of Mr Lee's guilt or innocence. He was merely acting as a "mailbox", he said.
"I said I'm happy to facilitate communication because communication had broken down," he said.
He said he did not ask to get involved but was drawn into it after attacks in the press and on social media, accusing him of not doing enough to help Mr Lee.
"Throughout this I tried to act in a manner very consistent with my responsibilities as a member of parliament. I acted in good faith," he said.
