Guy Sebastian‘s ex-manager Titus set to appeal fraud conviction in state’s highest court
Guy Sebastian‘s ex-manager will head to the state’s highest court in a matter of months seeking to have his convictions for defrauding the pop star overturned.
Police & Courts
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Guy Sebastian’s former manager Titus Day will head to the state’s highest court in June to appeal his conviction for embezzling more than $620,000 of the pop star’s earnings.
The Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday confirmed Day’s appeal will proceed before a panel of three judges on June 23.
The hearing itself is estimated to take three hours — a reduction in the original estimate of four hours, after Day’s legal team confirmed it was no longer pressing an unreasonable verdict ground.
However, Day is unlikely to learn his fate that day, with judges traditionally reserving their decision until a later date, which could be weeks or even months after the initial hearing.
Day was found guilty in June last year of 34 counts of embezzlement following a lengthy jury trial.
Jurors found the former manager to the stars had misappropriated $624,675 worth of earnings which should have been transferred to Mr Sebastian’s bank accounts between 2013 and 2020.
Day remained on bail until November, when he was sentenced to four years in jail with a two-year, six-month non-parole period.
He was also ordered to repay the entirety of the amount to Mr Sebastian.
“All (the offences) were committed for financial gain,” Judge Gartelmann said in his judgment at the time.
“There is no evidence of remorse as the offender maintains his innocence.”
The court heard Day embezzled money from Mr Sebastian’s performances, including a tour with Taylor Swift and an ambassadorship with Dreamworld.
The court was told Day was Mr Sebastian’s manager in 2009 but the pair had a bitter falling out in 2017.
Following the separation, Mr Sebastian claimed he found anomalies in his financial records and launched legal action against his former manager to recoup the money he was owed.
Day responded with a counterclaim, alleging it was he who was owed money by Sebastian – a claim the reality TV show judge denied.
Both men continued to argue the other owed them money throughout the heated trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.
The jury found Day had used some of the money owed to Sebastian – including about $187,000 from a Taylor Swift support act gig – to purchase shares on his behalf in a company called My Medical Records. The court was told Day sat on the board of the company at the time.
Day was acquitted of 13 charges, including allegations he embezzled $39,000 from a British and Irish Lions rugby tour performance, and other sums of money ranging from $6000 to $39,000 and $125,000.
Meanwhile, Day relied on character references from several former clients and friends, including high-profile Australian singer Tina Arena, who said Day had an “impeccable reputation of honesty [and] integrity” in the industry.
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