A former AFL player who authored a damning report about alleged racism at the Hawthorn Football Club has faced court accused of defrauding a Victorian Aboriginal service of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Phil Egan was contracted by the Robinvale-based Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative between 2010 and 2015, working as chief executive and chairman.
The former Richmond footballer faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with 73 offences including obtaining financial advantage by deception from the co-op, and using false documents.
Egan earned more than $680,000 plus a contract termination or bonus payment of more than $140,000 for services he provided MVAC between 2010 and 2015.
But court documents allege while working as chief execrative and in other roles he received a further $779,000 secretly gained from supplier invoices paid by the organisation.
It's alleged he secretly gained the funds through 52 supplier invoices paid by MVAC for more than $911,000 worth of work.
A summary of the prosecution case claims Egan received most of the funds in his personal or business bank account.
“Board members understood Egan to be contracted in good faith to perform the leadership roles at MVAC however were not aware of the concealed payments received by him through other contracts invoices,” the document alleges.
Fraud allegations were raised with police in October 2018 and the financial crimes squad took over an investigation in 2020.
Egan appeared in person on a court summons and was released on bail during the hearing.
His barrister Daniel Sala described the complex fraud case as having a number of moving parts and interwoven aspects.
Prosecutors have sought transcripts of audio in the case, but it was not clear if those were telephone intercepts or other recordings.
Egan is due back in court for a committal mention on October 30.
The court case isn't the only time Egan has been in the spotlight of late.
His company Binmada compiled the report into claims of historical racism at Hawthorn.
An independent inquiry into the claims was wound up by the AFL in May this year, with no adverse findings.
