Former AFL Umpire Troy Pannell Jailed Over Court Breaches and Fraud Allegations
So, here’s what’s going on with Troy Pannell, the former AFL umpire whose name has now hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. He’s been sentenced to jail—not for fraud itself, at least not yet—but for contempt of court. This came after a series of pretty serious missteps while already under legal scrutiny for an alleged multi-million dollar fraud scheme.
Pannell, who’s 48, pleaded guilty to six charges of contempt at the Victorian Supreme Court. One of the major issues? He ignored a freezing order that was supposed to stop him from touching his assets and went ahead and sold shares in a racehorse, Aimee’s Jewel, to a friend named Maree Wilke. Not only that, but he’s also admitted to misleading lawyers and even forging documents to create a false story about the sale.
Because of these breaches, he’s been sentenced to 11 weeks in jail—though he’s already served more than half of that time in custody, so he’s expected to be released in under a month. The judge, Justice Andrew Watson, said Pannell’s actions showed a clear disregard for court orders and emphasized that the sentence was meant to serve as a warning to others who might consider doing the same.
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What makes this even more serious is that all of this is happening while he’s facing civil action from his former employer, SeaRoad Shipping. They’re accusing him of defrauding the company out of $8.7 million over nearly a decade through a fake invoice scheme. The alleged fraud involved billing the company for repairs to shipping containers that were never actually done—using a company he owned and controlled. We’re talking about up to 10,000 false invoices, each around $800.
And that’s not the only trouble he’s in. Earlier this month, Pannell also had his driver’s license suspended after pleading guilty to charges like failing to stop for police. In fact, he crashed his van into a tree after police attempted to pull him over. At the time, they were trying to arrest him for those same contempt charges.
He’s also been accused of dealing with property suspected to be proceeds of crime—things like a $45,000 Hyundai Tucson, an iPhone 13, and a Microsoft laptop.
SeaRoad’s lawyer is now pushing for Pannell to disclose his financial records, including bank accounts tied to both him and his company. If he doesn’t comply, they’ll move for a default judgment for the full $8.7 million, plus legal costs.
So, while this jail sentence is for contempt of court, it’s just one piece of a much larger legal battle that’s far from over for Troy Pannell.
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