Scott Pendlebury launches $3m lawsuit against former manager
Former Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury alleges his ex-manager siphoned off money from his investment accounts over almost a decade.
Former Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury has launched a $3m lawsuit against his longtime friend and former manager Jason Sourasis, accusing him of siphoning money from his investment accounts.
The two-time premiership player alleges Mr Sourasis misappropriated $2.1m over almost a decade.
He also alleges that he loaned Mr Sourasis $300,000 that was never repaid.
In a writ and statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court late on Friday and released on Monday, the veteran Magpie, 37, claims Mr Sourasis told him he only needed a day to pay the money back.
But when Mr Pendlebury demanded the money back, Mr Sourasis told him he was unable to return it.
Instead, the two former mates agreed that Mr Sourasis would have between six months and a year to repay the money, at an eye-watering 50 per cent per annum interest.
Pendlebury claims Mr Sourasis is yet to repay a cent.
That alleged debt is believed to now be well above $600,000.
Mr Pendlebury is seeking the return of the money he alleges was taken from his bank, as well as repayment of the loan plus interest and damages.
The claim explains that Mr Pendlebury and his private investment company, S Pendlebury Investment Co, had been a client of Mr Sourasis’ Strategic Financial Planning from 2013 and that it had access to his bank account as part of a retainer agreement.
It is alleged that Strategic transferred money from Mr Pendlebury’s accounts more than 50 times between January 2015 and December 2023, with the Collingwood champion only becoming aware of those transactions in February this year following a review of his finances.
Mr Pendlebury immediately sacked Mr Sourasis as his financial advisor, money manager and tax advisor.
“In around February 2025, Mr Pendlebury became aware that, between January 2015 and December 2023, Mr Sourasis had transferred funds totalling $2,148,900.00 from S Pendlebury Investment Co’s Macquarie bank account (Macquarie Funds) to an account or accounts associated with Mr Sourasis,” court documents state.
A schedule of the transactions shows they were in amounts ranging from as little as $8000, up to $305,000, while most of the transfers were to entities tied to Mr Sourasis’ Western Melbourne Group – a company which is proposing a public-private partnership to develop a sporting and entertainment complex in Melbourne’s west, including a new stadium for the embattled Western United team.
The writ states that “each of the transfers … was made without the knowledge or consent of Mr Pendlebury or S Pendlebury Investment Co” and that they were “in breach of the Fiduciary Duties Mr Sourasis and Strategic Financial Planning owed to S Pendlebury Investment Co”.
Mr Sourasis is a well-known business identity and sports investor, and is a majority owner in the troubled Western United, which was stripped of its A-League status earlier this year amid claims of player underpayment.
He told the Herald Sun he “vehemently denied the claims” and that he would defend them in court.
The court documents were filed by leading corporate lawyer Leon Zwier of Arnold Bloch Leibler.
Mr Pendlebury and Mr Sourasis had been friends for more than 20 years and their wives and children had also been close before the financial dispute.
Western United won the 2022 A-League championship but was stripped of its licence in August.
The club had appealed that decision and had been hoping to return to the league.
