Former Eels boss Scott Seward a 'shell of his former self', court hears
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Stephanie Gardiner
Former Parramatta Eels boss Scott Seward's role in the salary cap scandal goes against "every fibre of his moral code", as the son of a policeman with a keen sense of honesty and justice, a court has heard.
Seward has pleaded guilty to a charge of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage of $221,106 from the Parramatta leagues club by arranging "off the books" payments to keep top players.
Former Parramatta Eels boss Scott Seward's lawyer speaks outside the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.
He sat red-faced in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, as his lawyer John Sutton said it was Seward who reported the illegal activity.
The court heard that soon after Seward became the CEO, he learnt of the Eels' financial issues, and began to raise false invoices for payment by the leagues club.
Former Parramatta Eels chief executive Scott Seward. Photo: Janie BarrettMr Sutton said Seward's "conscience got the better of him" and he resigned in June 2015 under intense pressure, and reported the salary cap scandal to NRL boss Todd Greenberg.
Mr Greenberg advised Seward to go to authorities, including the integrity unit.
"When his moral compass pointed due north, he said 'I've had enough'," Mr Sutton told court.
"He could have kept his mouth shut ... but it would be on his conscience forever. His father is a former police officer, he was brought up with a sense of justice."
Mr Sutton said Seward's admissions led to the arrest of the Eel's former manager Jason Irvine, and a wider investigation into the club.
"These matters would not have come to light without the full and frank disclosures of [Seward]," Mr Sutton said.
"If he'd kept his mouth shut, if he hadn't brought it to the attention of the authorities, it wouldn't have been known."
The salary cap scandal resulted in the Eels being stripped of 12 competition points, a $750,000 fine and the sacking of the leagues club board.
The drama was one of the biggest scandals in Australian sport and cruelled the club's chances of competing in the 2016 finals series.
Mr Sutton said the case had cost Seward everything, and he now worked in a casual retail job.
A reference from a Parramatta Eels colleague said Seward was a "shell of his former self".
Prosecutors argued Seward's conduct was serious, and the sentence needed to reflect community expectations
"Those in well-paying positions of power engaging in criminal behaviour should be aware it's not accepted by the community," the prosecutor said.
Seward has also admitted publishing false and misleading material to obtain advantage in March 2015.
Deputy chief magistrate Christopher O'Brien will sentence Seward on July 13.
Replies
LOL.... I can't decide which part of this amuses me more that he is now working a casual job in retail after being a CEO of an NRL team or that he probably is looking down the barrel at a custodial sentence.
Is that photo taken outside the court?
It doesn't look like all the stress has caused any weight loss.
He has more chins than a Hong Kong phone book.
It was a blatant set up by many Freemasons inside the NRL, News Limited, Media, etc, to work away at bringing our community club down to a sufficient degree so that it can be manipulated into being privatised and therefore completely controlled by Freemasons who set up the sting in the 1st instance. Privatising public hospitals, lighthouses, transport, roads, etc, etc, often came about due to similar tactics used on our community owned club. Freemasons are cunning as.
I'm no fan of his but honestly what's the point? Let him off. He didn't steal the money for himself and the entire salary cap is beyond a joke.
The club has been punished, he's lost his job, his reputation is in ruins.
Player agents? Nah.
Other nrl clubs? Nah
Players? Nah.
It was all Seward's fault apparently.
Perhaps the moral of the story is not to tell the truth.
Agreed, he didn't personally benefit, the salary cap is a complete and utter joke that is exploited by far smarter and more corrupt operators than Seyward, taking him down is an embarrassment to the NRL.
No one cares, no one will learn a lesson and the real corrupt and connected salary cap exploiters just get wiser at working a system that only benefits wise, cunning and well connected criminals.
Sewards only crime is that he was not corrupt enough, cunning enough, smart enough and connected enough to play a game that at least 50% of NRL clubs have mastered.
Jason Irvine has also been charged and will have his day in court.
Seward rightly deserves to be in the firing line for what he did - from all reports Sharp and others were the ones asking how could the club get traction in the market and Seward and Irvine were the ones who came up with hare-brained and ILLEGAL scheme to cover it up.
Seward and Irvine allegedly ILLEGALLY altered supplier invoices to mask the fact that players were being paid from outside undeclared sources.
Irvine was allegedly the one in the carparks and knocking on doors making it all happen - was he just a complicit yes man or was a ring leader - court reports will tell the full story.
If you heard some of the recordings from the board meetings, you will hear various board members asking if it was illegal - and Seward responded with how they could get around it.
Sharp and co were totally incompetent, negligent and morally bankrupt, but Seward and his mate made it happen and devised the schemes that eventually led to their downfall (that is criminal). Throw the book at them….
As far Sharp and Co goes – they were just too dumb to run the football club and at the very least should be charged under the Companies Act (civil action) and also be made to face up to Fong.
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