Nav De Silva fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court over $250k fraud
A Doncaster man who allegedly fleeced $250k to secure big-name cricketers for a local match has faced a Melbourne court.
South East
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A Doncaster man who allegedly stole almost $250,00 to secure 10 high-profile international cricketers for a local competition has fronted court.
Navishta De Silva, 35, faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday after being charged with 18 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly deal with proceeds of crime.
Mr De Silva was arrested on November 24, two days before an exhibition match at Shepley Oval in Dandenong was set to go ahead.
Police allege Mr De Silva was involved in sourcing and paying for 10 high-profile international cricketers using money — about $241,440 — allegedly stolen from a Mulgrave company and put into his business between March 2021 and July 2022.
Mr De Silva’s company, Global Talent Entertainment, was putting on the two major stand-alone T20 events in conjunction with Endeavour Hills Cricket Club.
Court documents reveal Mr De Silva allegedly falsified tax invoices and purchase orders, posing as a legitimate supplier CCTV Masters and billed his employer Omni Vision to his own bank account.
In a statement released by the Endeavour Hills club on Friday, it said the match would go ahead and the club had no involvement in the allegations.
“Despite the recent media speculation, EHCC is not involved in any charges laid recently,” the statement said.
“Any allegations are past matters between an employer & employee. There is no further comments about this matter. It’s business as usual at EHCC.”
Cricket greats Chris Gayle, former Pakistan international Shoaib Malik and ex-Sri Lankan Test star Tillakaratne Dilshan headlined the match on Sunday against the Queensland side.
Australian DJ Havana Brown performed at the event’s halftime show.
Mr De Silva will return to court for a committal hearing on February 28 next year.
His bail was extended until then.