Former Western Bulldog suspended, fined $17,500 by RV stewards

Former Coleman medal winner turned bookmaker Simon Beasley has found himself in hot water with Racing Victoria once again after breaching the conditions of his licence.

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Former AFL star Simon Beasley’s chequered bookmaking career has taken another hit.

The 1985 Coleman medallist has been fined $17,500 and banned until December 31 after admitting taking bets outside of the limitations of his licence.

The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board found Beasley, who was disqualified for four years in 2009, had breached the conditions of his licence but ruled he had not acted with sinister or improper purpose such as evading tax.

Beasley’s ban starts on Thursday.

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AFL Legends Simon Beasley (L), Glen Archer (C) and Alan Joyce. Picture: Jay Town

The West Australian, 63, was sidelined 10 years ago and fined $50,000 for taking almost 1600 fictitious bets with a turnover of almost $3.8 million.

Beasley, who resumed bookmaking in August last year, was recently charged with two counts under AR 228 (b), which says “a person must not engage in misconduct, improper conduct or unseemly behaviour”.

The charges relate to a period between September, 2018 and January, 2019, when RV alleged Beasley engaged in misconduct regarding the recording of 71 bets in his ledger.

Those bets were not recorded on the industry’s phone monitoring system.

He was also charged on 24 counts for impersonating or directing someone to impersonate phone clients.

Beasley at a hearing in 2009. Picture: Jay Town

The RAD Board struck out three original charges deemed instead to be clerical errors and did not constitute misconduct.

Acting for Beasley, Dermott Dann, QC, said his client had “more or less self-reported” by his actions of later recording bets that had not been made through the official phone as he was aware the amendments would be monitored.

He said Beasley had simply not been forceful enough to direct his clients to make their bets through the official phone channels and instead took the bets and recorded them later.

Andrew Bell, appearing for Racing Victoria stewards, submitted to the board Beasley’s previous offences meant the former the Simpson medallist should be suspended for two months and fined $20,000.

In reaching its decision, the board said Beasley’s actions could not be compared to his offences 10 years ago.

It said he had been "sloppy and careless" in entering bets in his ledger that had not gone through the proper channels and that his behaviour "must be punished.”

Originally published as Former Western Bulldog suspended, fined $17,500 by RV stewards