Deadline for Titus Day’s legal costs to be paid arrives
The NSW government has until close of business to pay back Guy Sebastian’s former manager’s enormous legal costs after a judge intervened in a bitter battle over the cost of his fraud trial.
Police & Courts
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The state government must pay back Guy Sebastian’s former manager almost $1m in legal costs by close of business Wednesday after a judge intervened in the bitter battle over the price of his fraud trial.
Titus Emanuel Day successfully had his convictions for defrauding the Australian popstar overturned on appeal after a jury originally found him guilty of 34 fraud-related charges.
A claim Day had misappropriated more than $620,000 of Sebastian’s funds was among the bombshell accusations at the heart of their shattered working relationship and the subsequent criminal proceedings.
Day’s planned retrial at Sydney District Court was stayed while protracted negotiations about the legal costs to be reimbursed continued.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions initially only offered $296,000 for Day’s costs in his first trial, which is understood to have cost him more than $1m including the appeal.
Judge Mark Williams ultimately intervened when negotiations collapsed, ordering the stay of proceedings must only be lifted upon payment of $960,000 to Day by January 15.
It is understood the Department of Communities and Justice has until close of business to ensure Day’s payment lands.
The former manager to the stars continues to deny the fraud allegations, and is due to face a retrial beginning on May 26 at Sydney District Court.
Day became Mr Sebastian’s manager in 2009, and the pair were close friends until their bitter falling out eight years later.
Mr Sebastian claimed he had discovered discrepancies in his financial records, leading to him launching legal action against Day in efforts to recoup the money he alleged he was owed.
Among the claims were that Day had used money allegedly owed to Mr Sebastian – including about $187,000 from a Taylor Swift support act gig on her Red tour – to buy shares.
Day was originally charged with 47 fraud-related offences against Mr Sebastian, before being found guilty on 34 counts by a District Court jury.
Day subsequently accused Mr Sebastian of owing him money, which the popstar denies.
Mr Sebastian is not charged with any offence or accused of any wrongdoing.
The pair’s fiery accusations against each other were just some of the features of a dramatic trial beset with challenges, including the death of the initial trial judge, and Mr Sebastian contracting Covid-19 during the proceedings.
Day had a diverse career in the entertainment industry before he was hit with the shock charges in 2020, including as legal counsel at Australian modelling agency IMG.
He then founded and ran talent agency 6 Degrees Management with his wife from July 2009, with former Australian Idol co-host James Mathison, television personalities Grant Denyer and Sophie Monk, former swimmer Stephanie Rice and Australian UFC fighter Rob Whittaker among his former clients.
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