Man who recruited top cricketers from around the world charged for alleged theft and deception

Melbourne, Nov 25

A Melbourne man has been charged by Victoria Police for alleged theft and deception of AUD 250,000 that was used to recruit top cricketers from around the world.

A report in sen.com.au said on Friday that sleuths from the Monash Crime Investigation Unit had "charged the man for theft and deception" of huge sums from a Mulgrave company.

"It is alleged that the money was put into the man's own business that sourced and paid for 10 high-profile international cricketers to play in local district competitions in Melbourne's southeast. The alleged, 35, has been charged with 18 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly deal with proceeds of crime," said the report.

The alleged offender has got bail and will appear before Melbourne Magistrates' Court on November 29 for the reported fund theft he committed between March 2021 and July 2022.

"It's alleged a 35-year-old Doncaster man funnelled funds from a Mulgrave company into his own business, which then paid for the recruitment of high-profile international cricketers. While that information was readily available, recent reports have named Endeavour Hills from the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association as the club linked to the arrested," said the report.

"Endeavour Hills have created headlines throughout the 2022/23 season with the likes of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Fidel Edwards, Shoaib Malik, Dimuth Karunaratne and Dawid Malan among others signing on for the club," the report added.

"He was arrested earlier in the week, and the details have emerged today (Friday) via Paul Amy and Code Sports," a Fox Sports correspondent said on SEN The Captain's Run.

"He used the money, funnelled it into essentially payouts and wages for Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards, Shoaib Malik, a couple of Sri Lankan players to come out and play for Endeavour Hills in sort of these special T20 fixtures," the correspondent added.

The Fox Sports correspondent wondered whether one of the games scheduled to be played at Dandenong Shepley Oval this Sunday would happen following the arrest.

"Chris Gayle has flown into Australia, he is ready to go, but he may not actually play. He's flown 36 hours to get to Melbourne to play in this game. It's a very serious story, a very interesting story," said the correspondent.