Two financial backers of the Geelong Football Club have been accused in court documents of orchestrating an elaborate fraud estimated at $14.5 million against one of the nation’s largest service providers for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Not-for-profit organisation genU has launched Supreme Court action against its former information technology operations manager, Sy Giang Nguyen, and Geelong businessman Keith Greenwood, who owns an office supplies company in Geelong West.
Former genU IT operations manager Sy Giang Nguyen (circled) in a past photo with the Geelong team.
Nguyen allegedly colluded with Greenwood to siphon millions of dollars from the registered charity by buying or leasing thousands of IT products on behalf of genU that were never delivered, according to documents filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Greenwood’s business, Ryrie Office Machines, is also accused of oversupplying and overcharging for IT hardware and software ordered by Nguyen, who had worked for genU since it was founded in 2016.
GenU, which has 5500 staff and provides disability, aged care and employment services, became aware of the alleged fraud in September 2021, when an employee detected allegedly suspicious transactions.
Nguyen was dismissed in October 2022 and police were notified in December that year. GenU engaged a forensic auditor, a private investigator and law firm RBK Legal as part of an internal probe which discovered Nguyen was living in a $5 million property in Geelong owned by Greenwood.
Nguyen in happier times.
Nguyen is accused in court documents of living at another property, owned by Greenwood, in the Geelong suburb of Newtown, while also spending significant time at Crown casino, where he had access to a luxury villa. Documents obtained by a private investigator reveal Nguyen corresponding with Crown Hotels’ former chief executive Peter Crinis.
In 2015, Nguyen helped set a Guinness World Record when he consumed the world’s most expensive cocktail – a $12,500 drink known as “The Winston” – at Crown’s former venue Club 23. Nguyen did not finish the drink, made with 1858-vintage Croizet Cuvee Leonie cognac, and was reimbursed for the entire cost of the cocktail by Crown Resorts.
Despite earning a base salary of $140,000 at genU, Nguyen showered associates with lavish gifts, including overseas holidays, domestic flights, sporting memorabilia and tickets to major events, according to court documents.
A surveillance report included in court documents also revealed Nguyen “attending Kardinia Park (Geelong Football Club) soon after the grand final (2022) and attending a meeting with a recently retired Geelong player”.
Keith Greenwood, a Geelong businessman and co-owner of Ryrie Office Machines, is accused in court documents of being involved in a massive fraud against genU.
Greenwood and his business are also long-term sponsors of the Cats, and also major benefactors of a gallery and theatre company in Geelong. The website for Ryrie Office Machines claims the business has been an “integral part of the Geelong Football Club for over a decade” and is “synonymous with quality and trust” in the Geelong community.
On September 26, the Supreme Court granted genU a freezing order against assets controlled by Nguyen, Greenwood and Ryrie Office Machines, which is owned by Greenwood’s company, Basswood Nominees Pty Ltd.
The court order stops the pair disposing of several properties around Geelong, along with $6 million in proceeds from the recent sale of a development site in Leopold previously owned by Greenwood.
GenU is set to launch civil action against Nguyen and Greenwood in a bid to claw back estimated losses of $14.5 million.
The pair are accused of fraud and theft, while Nguyen is also alleged to have breached a fiduciary duty to his former employer, according to a draft statement of claim due to be filed by Friday.
An affidavit by genU chief executive Clare Amies accuses Nguyen and Greenwood of colluding to submit invoices for IT equipment that was not delivered, while also oversupplying and overcharging for IT hardware and software.
Nguyen is alleged to have leased or bought 3815 products from Ryrie Office Machines that were not supplied, including 182 servers, 542 desktop and 309 laptop computers, 1462 monitors and 989 docking stations, according to more than 600 pages of court documents obtained by The Age.
Greenwood’s IT business also allegedly charged genU more than $2.2 million for six different software licences that appear to have never been delivered to the not-for-profit organisation.
“It appears that Mr Nguyen has orchestrated a fraudulent scheme in respect of the supply of IT hardware and software to genU for the benefit of himself and another, being Ryrie Office Machines,” Amies stated in an affidavit signed on September 23.
Nguyen tosses the coin before a Geelong-Adelaide AFL game in August.Credit: Fox Footy
Detectives from the financial crime squad arrested and interviewed Nguyen, 57, on August 1, after executing a warrant at his Newtown home. No charges have been laid against him.
Two days after his arrest, Nguyen greeted Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield and tossed the coin before a match between the Cats and Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium on August 3.
Greenwood was arrested and interviewed on September 5, and released without charge as the fraud investigation continues.
A police spokeswoman confirmed the pair are the subject of an investigation that began in February 2023 after police were notified by genU management in December 2022.
A Geelong property owned by Greenwood.Credit: Justin McManus
“Detectives have obtained financial and business records from the organisation and these continue to be forensically assessed,” the spokeswoman said.
Amies released a statement to The Age confirming that legal proceedings had commenced against “various defendants for alleged and serious misconduct perpetuated against genU”.
“Since joining in 2020, I have been committed to leading an organisation that has the systems, processes and leadership in place to prevent, detect and transparently pursue acts of wrongdoing,” Amies said.
“Good governance dictates that those charged with stewardship responsibilities do their utmost to investigate and act decisively to right any wrongs affecting genU’s interests, which is what the current collective leadership did and will continue to do.”
HWL Ebsworth Lawyers partner Colin Almond, acting for Greenwood, declined to comment while the matter was before court, but denied “any allegation of wrongdoing or involvement in any improper or illegal conduct” by his client.
Geelong Football Club was contacted for comment.
Nguyen’s lawyer, Roger Vrachnas from Gigliotti Lawyers, declined to comment.
RBK Legal lawyer Michael Hazell, who is acting for genU, also declined to comment.
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