Gallop fuming over 'shermozzle'
By Josh Massoud | June 17, 2009 12:00am
SWIMMING legend Ian Thorpe has been caught up in Clint Elford's murky web of benevolence, which has dragged strife-torn Cronulla to new and potentially criminal depths.
Police believe the $30,000 donation Elford handed to the Sharks in February is the proceeds of a $500,000 life insurance fraud the 27-year-old planned to distribute to a range of charities and organisations.
After Elford was arrested and taken into custody yesterday afternoon, it emerged that:
HE approached The Ian Thorpe Foundation last year with an offer to bequeath a supposed $13.8million life insurance to the swimmer's charity. Sensing a problem, Thorpe's representatives reported Elford to the Federal Police about 12 months ago.
A CASTLE Hill-based lawyer reported him to NSW police last September. The solicitor, who refused to be named, allegedly told police Elford forged his letterhead and signature to claim insurance.
TWO doctors, based in Goulburn and Sydney, allege they have been defrauded, accusing Elford of forging their signatures and letterheads to claim insurance.
The Goulburn doctor, who also declined to be identified, also denied Elford was suffering Shy Drager Syndrome, the terminal illness he claimed would trigger $13.8million worth of life insurance.
It can now be revealed that Elford made that representation to several bodies, including a children's hospital, Oxfam and Waverley Lifeguards. There were also suggestions he approached Pat Rafter and Glenn McGrath's foundation.
But his links to Cronulla are of foremost concern, given former CEO Tony Zappia spent a third of the $30,000 he accepted from Elford in February.
Acting without the knowledge of his board, Zappia also set up the Beyond Sharks Foundation last August to receive the $13.8million life insurance he believed Elford would hand over upon his death.
He last night fronted furious Cronulla directors to explain the puzzling arrangements that NRL boss David Gallop branded a "total shemozzle''.
"Unfortunately this is nothing short of a total shemozzle,'' Gallop fumed. "I'm sure the Cronulla board are looking for answers and their fans need some, too.''
Prior to their talks with Zappia, several Sharks directors, including chairman Barry Pierce, met Elford at Rydges Hotel in Cronulla. The meeting took place as police executed a search warrant at his home in Goulburn, seizing Sharks memorabilia and computer hard drives.
But as he attempted to leave, Elford was met by detectives who took him to Miranda police station for questioning.
It later emerged that Goulburn police had begun their own investigation about a month ago, when insurance firm Allianz raised concerns about the authenticity of certain documents Elford had given them.
It is believed Elford received $500,000 as a result, much of which has been donated to various organisations that are now facing the possibility of benefiting from the proceeds of crime. Police said doctors alerted the insurer.
The Daily Telegraph yesterday spoke to a Goulburn-based doctor who treated Elford on two occasions - only to be informed by a Sydney medico his signature and letterhead had allegedly been forged. The Goulburn doctor said Elford had shown no signs of terminal illness.
"I first became concerned when a doctor in Sydney contacted me to say I'd referred Mr Elford,'' the doctor said. "I'd done no such thing. The referral letter was a forgery.''
