Former Parramatta football manager Jason Irvine has become the first person charged following Strike Force Rhodium’s investigation into the salary cap scandal at the Eels and more scalps are expected to follow as the police close in on those responsible for the biggest drama in the club’s history.
NSW police released a statement yesterday morning which confirmed a 42-year-old man had been arrested at his Leichhardt home and charged with knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, dishonestly obtaining property by deception and acting with intent to pervert the course of justice. The statement also said police would allege Irvine was responsible for a false statutory declaration regarding a traffic infringement.
The arrest signals the tipping point in a police investigation which began last year following the scandal, which rocked the club and led to the NRL docking the Eels premiership points and fining them $1 million.
It is understood more former Eels officials are in the sights of NSW Police, along with player agents who played a central role in the scandal. The NRL is also in the throes of sanctioning player managers, with several expected to be given lengthy suspensions for their participation in schemes to circumvent the game’s salary cap.
“The allegations under investigation relate to finance being fraudulently derived by the NRL club through false or inflated invoices to suppliers paid by the leagues club,” the police statement said. “At the time of the alleged offences, the man was employed as a football manager. He was taken to Newtown Police Station where he was charged with knowingly deal with proceeds of crime, dishonestly obtain property by deception, and do act with intent to pervert the course of justice.
“As part of their inquiries, police will allege the man is also responsible for a false statutory declaration regarding a traffic infringement. As Strike Force Rhodium continues, detectives intend to speak to several other people as part of their investigation.”
Irvine was among a host of current and former Parramatta officials interviewed by the NRL as part of their investigation into the scandal, which ultimately cost the Eels a place in the finals and led to the club undergoing sweeping changes off the field.
In his record of interview with the NRL, obtained by The Australian, Irvine detailed how the club had become desperate to appease players and managers who had been promised money. “The players are like animals,” Irvine said during his interview. “They feed wherever they can.”
Irvine, who was interviewed by NRL head of integrity Nick Weeks, investigator Karyn Murphy and salary cap auditor Jamie L’Oste Brown in April, confirmed the club began looking to suppliers to help them out of a situation which was spiralling out of control.
He claimed former chief executive Scott Seward proposed inflating bills 10 per cent, which they would later repay.
“If there was something to be picked up, I’d do it and give it to him and he’d fix it up,” Irvine said. “He’d just pay whoever was hammering him the most. I was just caught in the middle. I’d see these things come through and go, ‘oh shit’.”
He detailed how he went to NSW’s central coast on three occasions to pick up money from a sponsor. “I reckon it was like a maximum of ... $20,000,” he said. “Like it might have been $30,000.”
Irvine also revealed the club used money from the sales of merchandise while on their travels to help pay players, including on their annual trip to Darwin. The Eels are due to fly to Darwin tomorrow for a pre-season camp where they will conduct clinics in the local community.
“You know, cash is king,” he said. “So that’s why ... we’d always take a lot of merchandise ... to like the Darwins, to the country games or wherever we could.”
Irvine, who left the club before the scandal hit the news, admitted one sponsor put money into his personal account, which he said he later passed on to Seward. However, he denied he was ever privy to any inflated invoices.
“If there were a couple of shonky ones I was never privy to that,” he said. “Just like in my mind things just didn’t add up. Even though we were running around like crazy, there were still things that weren’t getting paid.”
News of Irvine’s arrest comes at the worst possible time for the Eels, who have gone a long way to restoring their reputation under chairman Max Donnelly and chief executive Bernie Gurr.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...e/news-story/f0e74e617ed676c4e6f223107f3eede2
