Endeavour Hills Cricket Club responds to man charged over $250k fraud to recruit stars

A man linked with a suburban cricket club has been charged with the alleged theft of a six-figure sum, with the funds allegedly used to recruit a string of international cricket stars.

A man charged with the alleged theft of $250,000 has been linked to a suburban cricket club which recruited a host of international names including Chris Gayle.

A man associated with Endeavour Hills Cricket Club has been charged with the alleged theft and deception of $250,000 from a Mulgrave company, which was allegedly used to pay for 10 high-profile cricketers to participate in local cricket competitions.

Detectives from the Monash Crime Investigation Unit charged a 35-year-old Doncaster man, alleged to have stolen the funds between March 2021 and July 2022 with the money allegedly put into the man’s business.

West Indies champion Chris Gayle is among a host of international stars linked with the club for its special T20 event. Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP

The man has been charged with 18 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.

He has been bailed and will appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 29.

The club, which competes in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association, is set to host the first of two major stand-alone T20 events this Sunday at Dandenong’s Shepley Oval.

In a statement released on Friday evening, the club said it was not involved in any of the charges.

It is keen for Sunday’s match to proceed.

“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.”

Gayle arrived in Melbourne on Friday morning, and is part of a string of international stars assembled to represent Endeavour Hills for the event including former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, current Sri Lankan Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, teammate Lahiru Thirimanne and former Sri Lankan star Tillakaratne Dilshan.

There is no suggestion that money went missing from Endeavour Hills or that the club or any of its cricketers engaged in any wrongdoing.

The star-studded event is set to feature food trucks, a beer garden – even an on-site barber – along with live performances from well-known Australian musician, DJ Havana Brown.

Around 1000 tickets have been sold for the event, with Endeavour Hills set to take on Queensland premier cricket outfit Western Suburbs, due to arrive on Saturday.

The two sides will play off for $10,000 in prize money, courtesy of sponsor, Greska Homes.

The second event is set to be staged on December 4 against some of Victoria’s best Premier-grade cricketers.

“It’s a lot of planning – all of this started seven, eight months ago, negotiating and getting the contracts in place. The last four months have been absolutely full-on in regards to getting the event organised,” Endeavour Hills president Arun Rajendran told Leader on Thursday.

“It’s a family event, everything from kids’ face painting all the way through to haircuts on the ground – we’ve got a barber organised – and we’ve gone to every extent.”

The Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association has been contacted for comment.