The Australian's environment editor, Graham Lloyd, settles lawsuit over shaman-run eco-retreat

The Australian’s environment editor, Graham Lloyd, has settled a $600,000 lawsuit over an Amazonian eco-retreat in Peru two days into a five-day hearing.

Lloyd (also named in the case as Efrem Lloyd) and his partner, Vanessa Hunter, were being sued by their former friend and business partner Cheryl Conway for $600,000 she invested between 2013 and 2015 to establish the Lupunaluz Foundation and build the Lupunaluz Retreat in Peru.

Conway contributed funding to the project, while Hunter and Lloyd contributed the land they held the title for in Peru.

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The retreat was to be managed by a local shaman called Alfredo – Hunter’s godfather – who specialises in local medicines including some with hallucinogenic properties that are said to bring people closer to nature.

The court heard in the opening two days of the hearing this week that the relationship soured as Conway became concerned about how the foundation was being managed, and was keen to take over the retreat once it had been built and opened in 2016, but was shut out by Hunter and Lloyd.

Conway’s barrister, Harry Forrester, alleged in court that Conway had contributed all the funding, while Hunter and Lloyd had not provided anything, even a lease for the land.

Hunter and Lloyd’s barrister, Matt Sherman, said the pair had agreed to a lease of the land at a director’s meeting for the Australian-based company behind the retreat.

The court heard in the opening days there were even questions over whether Hunter and Lloyd had funded much of the cost for the land themselves. Forrester told the court that although they had claimed the land was worth US$100,000, it was bought for US$30,000, and US$25,000 of that money came from a wealthy benefactor named Nic Brunner. Forrester said Brunner suffered a kite-surfing accident after buying the land with Hunter and Lloyd, and lost a lot of memory, and now has financial minders who deal with his affairs.

“They really put nothing into this. Even the land that they were contributing was not bought entirely by them.”

Sherman told the court that Hunter and Lloyd’s contribution, in addition to the land lease, was that they spent a lot of time on the land in Peru during construction, and it had taken a personal toll on them.

After opening arguments on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Paul Anastassiou urged the parties to settle before Hunter, Lloyd, and Conway entered the witness box later in the week.

Anastassiou said the $600,000 being sought was relatively minor in comparison to the running of the case, and the costs that would arise from it. He also said that people involved in the case “have reputations in the public arena” and adverse credit findings might have to be made against them in the course of proceedings.

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“I would urge the parties to think about using, sometime before anybody gets into the witness box, to have another talk to see whether the matter can’t be resolved.”

The barristers for the case turned up on Wednesday but delayed the hearing several times while discussing a potential settlement, and then late on Wednesday night the two parties agreed to a confidential settlement.

Hunter and Lloyd told the Guardian in a statement that they were delighted the case had settled.

“We are immensely proud of our conservation achievements in the Amazon jungle and look forward to continuing our work to identify and preserve a Peruvian Amazon jaguar corridor,” they said.

“We wish everyone involved in the now settled commercial dispute well in their future endeavours.”

Conway declined to comment, stating everything that needed to be said was said in court.