Troy Pannell: Ex-AFL umpire jailed over contempt of court charges

Disgraced former AFL umpire Troy Pannell has learnt his fate after dodging a court case related to an alleged $8.7 million fraud.

Former AFL umpire Troy Pannell has been sentenced to 11 weeks’ jail after dodging a court case related to an alleged $8.7 million fraud.

Mr Pannell, 48, will be released next month after already spending 54 days behind bars on remand for contempt of court charges.

But he must now file a defence within two weeks to a claim that he created false invoices worth $8.7 million to defraud his former employer SeaRoad Shipping.

Former AFL umpire Troy Pannell departs the Supreme Court of Victoria after his sentencing. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

The company has filed a civil claim in the Victorian Supreme Court but Mr Pannell avoided filing a defence, or giving details of his bank accounts, for more than six months.

Justice Andrew Watson handed down the sentence on Wednesday, recording a conviction against Mr Pannell.

He said that Mr Pannell had also breached a freezing order by selling a racehorse for $150,000 in April after the court had ordered him not to dispose of any assets.

Former AFL umpire Troy Pannell has been sentenced to 11 weeks’ jail.

Justice Watson said that Mr Pannell’s offending was “serious” because he had tried to create a “false narrative” that the horse had been sold to his “partner” Maree Wilke before the freezing order was put in place.

The court heard that Mr Pannell had coached Ms Wilke on what to say to lawyers and signed her name on paperwork to attempt to provide false evidence that the horse was sold to her for only $6000 last year.

Troy Pannell’s offending was described by Justice Watson as serious. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

“Mr Pannell’s contempts were serious and showed disregard for the court order,” Justice Watson said.

“Failure to swear an affidavit is serious ... like any order of the court.

“Mr Pannell made no real attempt to comply with the court orders at any stage prior to 22 July 2025.”

Mr Pannell was first served with documents on January 3, 2025 after his former company had found $8.7 million was missing last year.

The shipping company has accused Mr Pannell of creating invoices for a container repair company, Independent Container Surveyors and Assessors, for work that was never carried out.

Troy Pannell has already served 54 days in custody. Picture: Mark Stewart

The invoices, which were under the threshold for him to sign alone, were made for over a decade.

Mr Pannell was the sole shareholder and director of ICSA.

SeaRoad Shipping’s barrister Jonathan B. Davis demanded that Mr Pannell now provide full details of his bank accounts and those of ICSA within 14 days.

If he fails to do so, the company will apply for a default judgment that Mr Pannell owes SeaRoad Shipping $8.7 million plus legal costs.

Justice Watson offered to give Mr Pannell 30 days to respond but the former umpire, dressed in a grey tracksuit, told the court he would “meet in the middle” and get it done within 14 days.

Justice Watson said that Mr Pannell’s offending was “serious”. Picture: Supplied

Mr Pannell has already served 54 days in custody so was due to be released on August 22.

He had previously apologised for delays in the court proceedings, claiming that he could not attend one hearing in May because a kangaroo had side swiped his car.

Text messages had revealed that Mr Pannell had been living in his company car before going on the run when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was involved in a single vehicle accident in country Victoria on June 6 after police had tried to stop him.

Mr Pannell umpired more than 200 AFL games but was at the centre of controversy in 2016 when he paid 17 free kicks to the Western Bulldogs and only one to Adelaide at Docklands Stadium.

The Bulldogs won the match by 15 points and went on to win that year’s premiership.