Scott Seward says sorry to fans, saying he can now hold his head high
Former Parramatta Eels CEO Scott Seward leaves the Downing Centre Court on Thursday.
Former Parramatta chief executive Scott Seward has made an unreserved apology to Eels members and fans for his conduct at the helm of the western Sydney club now that his fraud case has been settled in court.
Seward on Thursday received a two-year good behaviour bond for fraudulently obtaining $220,000 from the Parramatta Leagues Club to top up illegal player payments. He was CEO for two years, resigning in June 2015. In May last year, the NRL accused the Eels of systematically cheating the salary cap to the tune of $3 million over four years. The club was stripped of 12 competition points and fined $750,000.
Now that his case is over, Seward can finally speak freely after 18 months of silence.
“To the members and fans I offer my unreserved apology for the role that I played in this sorry chapter,” Seward told
The Weekend Australian. “It was not my intention to bring shame to Parramatta, but to rebuild a club that you could be proud of, and I’m sorry I didn’t deliver this.
“You deserved better from the administration that I was part of.
“I take full responsibility and blame nobody but myself for the position that I found myself in. I could have, and should have, refused to do what I was instructed to do. I let myself down, my family and friends down, but also by tainting its reputation I let the club and members down.”
Seward, 41, pleaded guilty last month in the Downing Centre Local Court to arranging and authorising false invoices between November 2014 and mid-June 2015. He was interviewed at length last year by the NRL’s Integrity Unit to help the league unravel what had been going on at Parramatta. NSW Police’s Strike Force Rhodium continues to investigate the Eels’ salary cap scandal and frauds committed against the Parramatta Leagues Club.
“I hope that by volunteering information and assisting with the respective investigations, that I played a role in providing the club with an opportunity to make change for long-term benefit,” Seward said yesterday. “I walked out of the courtroom on Thursday with a massive sense of relief and a feeling of justification, knowing I did the right thing in coming forward. I can now walk the streets without having to hide, but being able to look people in the eye and not worry about what they think of me. It was an incredibly tough decision to come forward and do what I did, but the decision (on Thursday) justifies trying to right the wrongs.”
There has also been a personal toll, not only for Seward but his family. “My wife, children, parents, sister, family and friends have been through hell, and I couldn’t have got through this without them. They stood next to me and supported me, they never gave me anything but support, never questioned my integrity,” he said. “I’ve worked in sports administration for almost 20 years, and have worked hard to get the opportunities I’ve received. I made some mistakes and I’m accountable for that and I understand it leaves a black mark. I don’t know if the future for me is in sport and right now that’s not my focus. My family is.”
In handing down his judgment, Deputy Chief Magistrate Chris O’Brien said Seward’s criminality in the fraud charges was at “the lower end of objective seriousness for offences of this type”.
“The offender’s motive was not one of personal gain,” O’Brien said on Thursday. “Rather, (it was) to fix up what was a diabolical mess he had inherited from others.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...h/news-story/5e95fa225f08787ee4f02a091dcc0a3e
