Ex-Tiger accused of non-profit fraud
Written by admin on August 12, 2024
The author of an explosive report into allegations of racism at the Hawthorn Football Club is facing allegations he stole from an Indigenous community organisation.
Phil Egan, a former Richmond Tigers player, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday as a five-day committal hearing to decide if the case heads to trial began.
The 61-year-old was charged by Victoria Police’s fraud squad in August last year with 73 offences, including obtaining financial advantage by deception, using false documents and receiving secret commissions.
He has previously denied any wrongdoing.
The allegations relate to his time as the chief executive of the Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative – an Aboriginal-run health, education and community services non-profit in Robinvale – between 2010 and 2015.
Prominent Victorian silk Colin Mandy SC, who also acts for accused mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, has been enlisted to represent Mr Egan, who took notes during the hearing.
According to court documents, police allege Mr Egan “secretly gained” almost $780,000 from the organisation through fraudulent invoices submitted to the co-operative, on top and above the $823,000 he was paid.
Giving evidence, Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative chief executive Paul O’Neil said Mr Egan was hired in May 2017 after the organisation had been placed into administration two years prior.
He told the court he handed police a 19-page document outlining the alleged fraud in August 2018, “largely” based on the work of two forensic accountants.
“The board (of directors) wanted this to be investigated in the criminal space,” he said.
“My board members were relentless in making sure this was followed through … They really wanted me to make sure there was some sort of momentum.”
Mr O’Neil said since 2017, the non-profit had grown from a team of six staff with poor finances to 65, providing “fairly extensive” services in the community.
Mary Khouri, now the Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative’s executive business manager, told the court that she had worked on and off for the organisation since 2009.
She said after Mr Egan was appointed chief executive in 2010, it “appeared Phil made all the decisions”.
“It was Phil that would come into the office to talk to us, it was Phil that was running the place,” Ms Khouri said.
“It was always Phil.”
Mr Egan played 125 games for Richmond between 1982 and 1990 before retiring from the game the following year after moving to the Melbourne Football Club.
In 2022, he authored an external review into the culture towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at the Hawks after former premiership star Cyril Rioli went public with allegations of racism at the AFL powerhouse.
Mr Rioli, who retired in 2018 after winning four premierships with Hawthorn, is the lead plaintiff in Federal Court action against the club launched last week.
The hearing continues.
