Navishta Desilva defrauds Omni Vision, steals $241,000 for talent management firm

A Doncaster man swindled his employer and stole more than $240,000 so he could pay high-profile international cricketers for exhibition matches and take luxury holidays on the side.

Navishta Desilva at County Court in Melbourne. Photo: NCA Newswire / Nicki Connolly

A suburban cricketer who defrauded his company of more than $241,000 to help meet his own business ambitions has been sentenced in County Court.

Navishta Desilva, 36 and from Doncaster, falsified tax invoices and purchase orders for his employer Omni Vision, an electronic security company in Mulgrave, over the course of 16 months.

The County Court on Monday heard on 18 occasions between March 26, 2021 and July 15, 2022, Desilva used an intermediary email address to substitute his own bank account details for those of supplier CCTV Masters on orders and invoices for Omni Vision, having doctored the documents by falsely inflating prices or altering the quantity of items actually ordered.

He then personally paid the supplier the original sum while pocketing the difference.

The purchases ranged in cost, reaching in one instance more than $36,000.

Desilva spent the money paying associates of his talent management firm Global Talent Entertainment, including cricket players whom Desilva had been unable to pay in accordance with agreements.

GTE was putting on T20 events in conjunction with Endeavour Hills Cricket Club, which is not implicated in the charges laid against Desilva.

The company hosted the Twilight T20 Carnival exhibition series at Shepley Oval in Dandenong in November last year, which promoted international guest players, such as Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dawid Malan, Shoaib Malik, Dimuth Karunarathne, and Lahiru Thirimanne.

Police later confirmed none of the players took part and the event was cancelled on its second day.

In one instance, more than $37,000 was paid to Vito DD Cricket, a cricket supplier owned by former Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The court heard it was Desilva’s aspiration to improve the condition of suburban cricket by having high-profile athletes play local showcase matches.

But his difficulty finding funding led to what Judge David Brookes called “financially deceptive behaviour”.

He also spent money on Louis Vuitton clothing and luxury holidays.

Desilva’s employment at Omni Vision ended in July 2022, but a later audit revealed discrepancies caused by his fraud.

The actual loss to Omni Vision totalled about $189,000.

Desilva was arrested in November 2022 and paid back the money with the help of family and friends, in whose debt he remains and currently works two jobs to reimburse.

Desilva’s life “totally fell apart”, the court heard, when his offending was discovered.

“I regret everything and I wish I could take it all back,” he was reported to have said.

Judge Brookes said Desilva’s “devious” behaviour was “plainly dishonest”.

Desilva previously pleaded guilty to obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

He was convicted and given a community correction order of three years, which will include 200 hours of community service.