Bail has been refused for a woman who pleaded guilty to misappropriating almost half a million dollars from an Aboriginal land trust.
Rosalie Lalara, 57, was the public officer of the Groote Eyelandt Aboriginal Trust, which went into administration in 2012 with $400,000 in the bank after $34 million in mining repayments was spent between 2010 and 2012.
It is not clear where all the money went, although there have been reports of it being spent on cars, boats and plane charters, or gambled away, the ABC has reported.
The Darwin Supreme Court on Friday heard Lalara spent $111,000 on a Range Rover and accessories to be sent from Townsville to Cairns so she could have a car when she travelled there.
Justice Graham Hiley said Lalara had been involved in at least 15 dishonest dealings over a significant period of time.
Last month she dismissed her lawyer minutes before court proceedings were due to begin and was instead supported by the NT representative of the Original Sovereign Tribal Movement (OSTM).
During those proceedings she questioned the jurisdiction of the courts and the ability of parliament to enact laws, but Justice Hiley said that matter had since been resolved.
The court heard Lalara was no longer involved with the OSTM, but her lawyer Robert Welfare said he had had major difficulties with the Berrimah prison in trying to access his client in jail, and that she wanted to be bailed to be able to care for her daughter on Groote Eyelandt.
"She has no money, no physical resources to flee the jurisdiction, she can't go anywhere except Groote Eyelandt," he said.
"There's no suggestion of hidden funds, ready to scarper off to parts unknown."
But Lalara's guilty plea - which she had earlier considered withdrawing before letting it stand - further strengthened the crown case for no bail, prosecutor Damien Jones said.
"The crown case is unassailable," he said.
Justice Hiley refused bail, and Lalara will reappear in court on January 19.
