Author of explosive racism report against Hawthorn has been ARRESTED for allegedly fraudulently obtaining huge sums of money from Indigenous organisation
- Philip Egan was arrested by Victoria Police on Tuesday
- Former VFL player allegedly committed fraud
- Egan authored bombshell Hawthorn racism report
The author of the report into the Hawthorn racism scandal has been arrested for allegedly stealing from an organisation in charge of helping Indigenous communities.
Phil Egan was apprehended on Tuesday by detectives from the Victoria Police financial crime squad and is expected to be charged on summons with fraud related offences.
‘Detectives from the financial crime squad have arrested a man today as part of an investigation into allegations of fraud relating to the management of a Robinvale-based organisation,’ a spokesman for the force said.
‘A 60-year-old Aberfeldie man was interviewed earlier today by investigators.
‘He has been released and is expected to be charged on summons with fraud-related offences. The investigation remains ongoing.’
Phil Egan is accused of stealing from a body set up to help indigenous communities
Egan was apprehended on Tuesday by detectives from the Victoria Police financial crime squad and is expected to be charged
Egan, who played 125 games for Richmond between 1982 and 1990, reportedly syphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative.
The allegations were first uncovered in December last year, when the Herald Sun reported the former VFL player was under investigation over claims of fraud.
According to the report, the alleged frauds were carried out between 2010 and 2012, when he was a senior manager at the co-operative.
During the two-year window, Egan also served as the organisation’s chief executive for a period of time.
‘I categorically deny that I have stolen from the Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative in any way whatsoever,’ Egan said in a statement at the time.
The AFL was rocked by a bombshell scandal in September, after Egan’s report into the treatment of First Nations players at Hawthorn during the tenure of former coach Alastair Clarkson was leaked to the media.
Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was accused of bullying First Nations players at Hawthorn by a bombshell report authored by Egan and leaked in September last year
The report was commissioned by the club itself, a decision then-Hawks president-elect Peter Nankivell defended in November.
Among various accusations, the four-time premiership winner is alleged to have told a First Nations player to end the life of his unborn child, a claim which he has strenuously denied.
The AFL have opened their own investigation as a result with Clarkson refuting the allegations ‘in the strongest and most emphatic terms possible’.
The report also alleges that between 2010 and 2016 assistant coach Chris Fagan, player development manager Jason Burt and ex-footy boss Mark Evans ran the football department through ‘bullying and intimidation’.
Clarkson and Chris Fagan (right) are alleged to have run Hawthorn’s football department through ‘bullying and intimidation’ by a bombshell report
Clarkson led Hawthorn to four premierships during a 17-year spell in charge of the Hawks
Fagan, the current Brisbane Lions coach, has also denied all the allegations.
Clarkson and Fagan both temporarily stood down from their role at North Melbourne and Brisbane but are expected to be in charge of their respective teams in the upcoming season.
At the end of last year, a lawyer for one of the accused Hawthorn officials warned the allegations against Egan could be a ‘game-changer’ for the findings of the report.
‘If Mr Egan is proved to have engaged in serious wrongdoing, such as to have harmed his own First Nations’ community by the removal of funds, what confidence can anyone have in any investigation process he has managed?,’ he said.
DailyMail
