Four NRL player agents have had their offices raided by police from the NSW fraud squad in relation to the salary cap scandal which has engulfed the Parramatta Eels.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate McClymont has reported that, just after 9:30am on Thursday (AEDT), the offices of high-profile player agents Sam Ayoub, George Mimis and Paul Sutton were raided by police as well as the home of Wayne Beavis, the agent of Gold Coast star Jarryd Hayne.
It is understood that search warrants were issued for all four premises.
The raids are just the latest development in the salary cap scandal which plunged the Parramatta club into chaos earlier in the year.
After an excellent start to the season, the Eels were hit with the news that the NRL’s integrity unit had found the club had been operating a system which allowed them to rort the salary cap. The preliminary findings of the investigaiton found the system had been in place since at least 2013.
The club was subsequently fined $1 million, docked the 12 competition points they had earned by using the illegal team, and stripped of their 2016 Auckland Nines title won prior to the start of the NRL season proper.
The release of the findings saw a mini player exodus from Parramatta as the Eels attempted to get back under the salary cap. Big-money forward Anthony Watmough had his retirement fast-tracked, and fan favourite hooker Nathan Peats was shipped off to the Gold Coast.
The Eels’ board was then sacked by the NSW government later in the year.
Sacked Eels chairman Scott Seward claimed he was approached by a number of agents, including Beavis, Mimis and Ayoub, when he stepped into the role in 2013, demanding the club honour a series of third-party deals negotiated under the previous chairmanship of Roy Spagnolo.
In testimony given to the integrity unit, Sharp claimed he had told the agents the club wouldn’t be honouring the deals, for which there were no formal records. However the NRL investigation found the club eventually relented to the agents’ demands.
Third-party deals are permitted in the NRL, however they must be disclosed to the NRL and have the written permission of the competition’s salary cap auditor.
However, making a knowingly false declaration to the NRL is a criminal offence, as the submissions to the competition are covered by the NSW Oaths act.
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