JP Morgan Australia chair refuses to back Luke Sayers amid lingering scandal after lewd pic ‘hack’

Carlton’s board is consumed with the scandal surrounding its chair Luke Sayers, with speculation mounting he may be replaced.

Carlton president Luke Sayers. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

Banking heavyweight JP Morgan Australia chair Robert Priestley has refused to back Carlton Football Club president Luke Sayers amid a lingering scandal over the Blues boss after a picture of a penis was posted on his social media at a time he says the account was hacked.

Mr Priestley, who chairs the local arm of global bank, is Carlton vice-president and considered a contender to take on the running of the club amid the turmoil surrounding Mr Sayers.

Carlton’s board has been dragged into the scandal after the photo was posted on Mr Sayers’ X account two weeks ago.

The image remained online for almost 14 minutes before Mr Sayers told followers his account had been “hacked” and urged them to “please ignore all posts”.

The tweet was addressed to a female executive of health insurer Bupa, a key sponsor of the famous AFL club.

Mr Sayers, who also runs consulting firm Sayers that was founded in the wake of him departing audit and consulting giant PwC Australia, is on holiday at Italy’s Lake Como.

He has not responded to repeated requests when asked if the picture of the penis was him.

However, on Friday he doubled down, with a spokesman from his consulting firm issuing a statement insisting he did not post the picture on January 8.

“When he was alerted that his social media had been hacked, he immediately disabled all of his accounts and engaged legal counsel,” his spokesman said.

“Mr Sayers acknowledges the distress of everyone impacted by this shocking incident.”

Luke Sayers’ X post. Picture: X

Mr Sayers pledged, in the wake of the hack, he would “leave no stone unturned finding out who did this”.

The AFL also revealed on Friday its integrity commission was investigating the incident.

The probe comes as Carlton prepares for important pre-season activities and training, with several friendly matches already scheduled.

Mr Sayers’ consulting firm boasts the backing of several high-profile Victorians including trucking magnate and fellow football club backer Lindsay Fox.

Many in the Carlton orbit expect a circuit-breaker will be needed for the club, with its eight members alongside Mr Sayers understood to be keenly concerned about the incident.

A lewd image that appeared on the X account of Luke Sayers. Sayers contends that his account was hacked and has since deleted his X account

Several members of the Carlton board have refused to comment, but several sources have suggested Mr Priestley is being considered as a consensus candidate to replace Mr Sayers, who is due to end his time at the top of the club at the end of this year.

A spokesman for Mr Priestley repeatedly refused to confirm if the Carlton vice-president backed Mr Sayers, declining to comment when pressed if he supported the Blues boss.

Mr Priestley is also no stranger to high-profile incidents, with the career banker given immunity in an attempted cartel case from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in its landmark attempt to prosecute a series of banks over a $790m sharemarket flop.

JP Morgan Australia chair Robert Priestley

Mr Sayers’ time at PwC was marred by scandals and later ­revealed to have been dogged by a massive breach of confidentiality.

Mr Sayers was penalised by PwC after attempting to bid for a contract to run Australia’s visa processing in a personal investment alongside three partners.

Before becoming PwC chief executive in 2012, Mr Sayers led the firm’s tax practice.

However, Mr Sayers denies all knowledge of the confidentiality breaches.

Originally published as JP Morgan Australia chair refuses to back Luke Sayers amid lingering scandal after lewd pic ‘hack’