One of the trustees of a fund that had donated to Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor Allan Sutherland has told a Crime and Corruption Commission hearing he had no recollection of ever agreeing to hold such a role.
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Aspley GP John Ryan told the hearing into local government candidate misconduct on Thursday he had no involvement with the Moreton Futures Trust.
That was despite Dr Ryan being shown a deeds of trust, signed by him in 2010*, that installed him as a trustee.
The settlor of the Moreton Futures Trust, town planner Timothy Connolly, also seemed largely unaware of its operations, telling the hearing he had little to do with the body beyond its establishment.
According to Electoral Commission of Queensland returns, Moreton Futures Trust contributed $118,587 to Cr Sutherland's 2016 campaign.
Dr Ryan acknowledged he signed the deeds of trust and said it must have been signed in his surgery, as it was witnessed by his secretary.
Dr Ryan said he was involved in a pre-council amalgamation body, the Friends of Pine Rivers, which he said was set up to support Bryan Galvin, a mayoral candidate in the 2008 Moreton Bay election, "and other conservative candidates".
Mr Galvin was also a trustee, but the hearing was told he was replaced by Kirby Leeke in November, 2011.
But he said he had no recollection of ever being involved with the Moreton Futures Trust, despite the evidence presented to him.
Counsel assisting the CCC Glen Rice, QC, asked Dr Ryan whether he was aware he had signed a legal document installing him as a trustee.
Dr Ryan said while he had no recollection of doing so, it was clear that he had.
It would have been handed to him by Mr Galvin, Dr Ryan said, who was his "solicitor of 30 years and a family friend, who I trusted".
Mr Rice: "Surely, doctor, you didn't just sign something that was thrust in front of you."
Dr Ryan: "I did."
Mr Rice: "Without questioning what it was?"
Dr Ryan: "I cannot remember the circumstances. I may have, I probably did, ask what it was and then I made a judgment call. It was 2010, I considered myself psychologically to be out of politics in 2008 and I signed it without reading it and almost certainly without understanding it."
Evidence presented to the hearing showed Dr Ryan had signed documents switching the Moreton Futures Trust account from the National Australia Bank to the Commonwealth Bank.
Those documents were signed in February 2014.
"I don't know how I got that document and, again, I don't remember signing it," Dr Ryan said.
Dr Ryan was also shown a July 2012 NAB statement addressed to him, as a trustee for the Moreton Futures Trust Business cheque account, which he said he had never seen.
"If that came to my home, I would have been asking what the hell was going on," he said.
Dr Ryan said he had no knowledge of any donations, or any other financial activity, made by the Moreton Futures Trust.
Mr Connolly said he did recall his role in setting up the Moreton Futures Trust, but distanced himself from its operations, saying he was "just a convenient person at the time" to sign the legal documents.
Mr Connolly said Mr Galvin was the "instigator" the trust and that he had been involved in Mr Galvin's unsuccessful 2008 mayoral campaign.
Mr Connolly said he was not aware of who had donated to the Moreton Futures Trust.
The hearing continues.
*Correction: An earlier version of the article said Dr Ryan signed the deeds of trust in 2008.
