Exposed: new Storm rorts

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EXPLOSIVE documents detailing illegal payments to three Melbourne Storm players have been given to News Ltd by the club's former acting chief executive, Matt Hanson.

Greg Baxter, the director of corporate affairs for News, last night told the Herald the documents had been forwarded to the NRL's salary cap auditor, Ian Schubert.

The documents refer to payments due to have been made this year and are disguised as third-party sponsorship deals.

Melbourne was hammered with a series of enormous penalties by the National Rugby League on Thursday for cheating the salary cap by $1.7 million.

After three sponsors withdrew more than $2 million yesterday, the Storm's owner, News, has been forced to commit to propping up the disgraced rugby league club indefinitely.

The media company had intended selling the Storm when an independent commission took over the running of rugby league from News and the ARL at the end of this season. It will now need to spend an estimated $30 million over five years to keep the club afloat.

The Storm chairman, Rob Moodie, who described the penalties as ''exceptionally severe'', said News would also have to provide the $1.6 million in fines and prizemoney Melbourne must repay.

The NRL management team's decision to impose the penalty without consulting the full NRL board - comprising three representatives each from News and the ARL - has angered directors, who were excluded because of the potential conflict of interest faced by the three News representatives. The Storm has been also stripped of two grand final wins and three minor premierships and will receive no match points this season.

There were $1 million worth of breaches from 2006 to 2009 and the new documents apparently go a long way towards accounting for the projected breach of $700,000 for this year.

The documents are not related to the part of the rort connected to a rented marquee.

The Herald revealed yesterday that the money that covered most of the first $1 million in breaches was based on the supposed hiring of a marquee by the Storm to entertain guests at home matches.

The club recorded in its official accounts that it had paid the marquee's owners, Melbourne Olympic Park, up to $20,000 each time it used the marquee when, in fact, the contract between the club and the ground included use of the marquee. The money was then funnelled to players.

Mr Baxter said the files were ''the first documentary evidence that relates to the Storm breaching their salary cap in 2010''.

''The particularly important thing about them is that they were stored at Hanson's house and, we believe, previously at [former chief executive Brian] Waldron's house,'' Mr Baxter said,

''They are copies of letters to three different player agents from Waldron, in late 2008 and early 2009,'' Mr Baxter said. ''Each letter details schedules of payments to be made to three Storm players. All three letters are signed by Waldron. Two of the three letters have been signed by a player and their agent, and one has also been signed by a witness.''

Mr Baxter refused to reveal the identity of the players or their managers but said the letters had been given to the NRL.

Mr Baxter said the letters contained no evidence of who the third party sponsorships were supposed to have been paid by.

He also said the letters were written in such a way that players reading them could be forgiven for not thinking they were doing anything illegal.

From SHM Online
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/exposed-new-storm-rorts-20100423-tj52.html?autostart=1
GREG PRICHARD AND BRAD WALTER
April 24, 2010

So I wonder how much where they really over with these new deals found today.
 
Hmmm, 3 players hey? Gee, I wonder if those three would be the nucleus of that team i.e. sMyth, The Grub (Slater), & the Turncoat (Inglis) ? ? ?
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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