NSW Police raid NRL player agents as part of salary cap rort sting
YONI BASHAN, The Daily Telegraph
36 minutes ago
POLICE are raiding the homes of NRL player agents Wayne Beavis and Sam Ayoub as part of ongoing investigations into salary cap breaches at the Parramatta Eels football club.
Officers from the NSW Fraud and Cybercrime Squad are currently carrying out search warrants at homes in Leichhardt, Woollahra, and a business premises in the CBD, police officials said.
No arrests are expected, but officials confirmed the searches were being conducted in relation to Strike Force Rhodium, the unit tasked with investigating salary cap breaches at the Eels club.
The raids are the latest incremental shift in a probe that was prompted by an award-winning series of articles about alleged salary breaches first published by The Daily Telegraph.
Detectives were seen entering the Woollahra home of Mr Beavis, a manager to former Eels player Jarryd Hayne, about 9.30am.
Concurrent raids were taking place on the home of Mr Ayoub, officials said. At 11am a locksmith was used so fraud squad detectives could gain access to Ayoub’s office in Hay Street at Leichhardt.
Comment is being sought from both men.
The Pitt Street offices of George Mimis and Paul Sutton were also targeted, according to reports.
An official said the operation had been planned and was largely being carried out to seize documentation.
The Parramatta Eels were docked 12 competition points and fined $1 million for systemic breaches of the salary cap.
Five Parramatta officials including chairman Steve Sharp, CEO John Boulous, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao and Eels football boss Daniel Anderson were found to have engaged in industrial-scale cheating of the salary cap.
At the time the penalty was handed down, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said the actions of Sharp, Boulous, Issa, Serrao and Anderson were “a stain on our game”.
“The preliminary findings suggest the operation of a deliberate, co-ordinated and sustained system of salary cap cheating by the club,” Mr Greenberg said.
The raids on Ayoub’s premises follow allegations in July he was presented with an illegal third party agreement worth thousands of dollars by former Eels chairman Steve Sharp. The deal, believed to have been scribbled on a napkin at a cafe, was for former Eels hooker Nathan Peats.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nsw-police-raid-nrl-player-agents-as-part-of-salary-cap-rort-sting/news-story/0f17353892d6078bbff256952492c571
YONI BASHAN, The Daily Telegraph
36 minutes ago
POLICE are raiding the homes of NRL player agents Wayne Beavis and Sam Ayoub as part of ongoing investigations into salary cap breaches at the Parramatta Eels football club.
Officers from the NSW Fraud and Cybercrime Squad are currently carrying out search warrants at homes in Leichhardt, Woollahra, and a business premises in the CBD, police officials said.
No arrests are expected, but officials confirmed the searches were being conducted in relation to Strike Force Rhodium, the unit tasked with investigating salary cap breaches at the Eels club.
The raids are the latest incremental shift in a probe that was prompted by an award-winning series of articles about alleged salary breaches first published by The Daily Telegraph.
Detectives were seen entering the Woollahra home of Mr Beavis, a manager to former Eels player Jarryd Hayne, about 9.30am.
Concurrent raids were taking place on the home of Mr Ayoub, officials said. At 11am a locksmith was used so fraud squad detectives could gain access to Ayoub’s office in Hay Street at Leichhardt.
Comment is being sought from both men.
The Pitt Street offices of George Mimis and Paul Sutton were also targeted, according to reports.
An official said the operation had been planned and was largely being carried out to seize documentation.
The Parramatta Eels were docked 12 competition points and fined $1 million for systemic breaches of the salary cap.
Five Parramatta officials including chairman Steve Sharp, CEO John Boulous, deputy chairman Tom Issa, director Peter Serrao and Eels football boss Daniel Anderson were found to have engaged in industrial-scale cheating of the salary cap.
At the time the penalty was handed down, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said the actions of Sharp, Boulous, Issa, Serrao and Anderson were “a stain on our game”.
“The preliminary findings suggest the operation of a deliberate, co-ordinated and sustained system of salary cap cheating by the club,” Mr Greenberg said.
The raids on Ayoub’s premises follow allegations in July he was presented with an illegal third party agreement worth thousands of dollars by former Eels chairman Steve Sharp. The deal, believed to have been scribbled on a napkin at a cafe, was for former Eels hooker Nathan Peats.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nsw-police-raid-nrl-player-agents-as-part-of-salary-cap-rort-sting/news-story/0f17353892d6078bbff256952492c571
