Ex-AFL agent guilty of selling fake footy memorabilia
Emily Woods |
A former AFL player agent has been found guilty of selling fraudulently signed footballs to fans after premiership players gave evidence against him in court.
Ricky Nixon, 62, paid about $18,000 cash for more than 40 footballs purporting to be signed by Melbourne’s 2021 premiership side from a man with a truck inside a car park, Melbourne Magistrates Court was told.
He then sold the footballs on Facebook, in early-October 2021, with three customers buying them from him for about $595 each.
However, seven members of the club’s premiership side attended court on Tuesday and each said they had not signed the three yellow Sherrins.
Melbourne captain Max Gawn said he and the team signed a thousand things after breaking a 57-year drought to win the 2021 grand final and about 40 to 50 footballs beforehand.
He was shown three balls sold by Nixon and said one of his signatures had a weird mark that he would not usually use and another “doesn’t look like what I normally do”.
Asked about his relationship with Nixon, Gawn said the ex-player agent would text him sometimes to tell him he played a nice game and they exchanged a “jovial” phone call in the weeks after the fraud.
Former Melbourne player Charlie Spargo said all three footballs signed with his name were not his handwriting.
“I use a cursive running writing style, it’s in print … it’s not the way I’d write it,” the North Melbourne forward said.
Fellow 2021 premiership players Christian Salem, Tom McDonald, Trent Rivers, Steven May and Jake Lever also gave evidence they either did not sign the footballs or did not remember signing them.
Three victims of Nixon’s scam gave evidence about their dealings with him, including that Nixon had denied the signatures were fake and refused to refund them.
Warwick Weir said he saw Nixon’s Facebook advertising the 2021 premiership footballs for sale and the former agent had dropped one off to him in Geelong on October 3 for $595 with a certificate of authenticity.
“I wanted a piece of memorabilia from that grand final, something to cherish,” he told the court.
But he said Gawn had signed the ball with a 13, instead of his player number 11, and asked for a replacement.
Nixon told Mr Weir he spoke to Gawn about this and “Max had apologised, didn’t realise that ball was going to make it into circulation”, texts read to court claimed.
But Gawn told the court he had never signed a football with a number 13.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet found Nixon had lied about this to Mr Weir as he found him guilty and convicted him on Tuesday afternoon, fining him $4500 for the offending.
“From at least this point in time he must’ve known the footballs were fake or fraudulent,” he said.
Nixon was found guilty of four charges, including obtaining property by deception and deceptively use false document.
The magistrate said it was “indisputable” the signatures on the balls he sold to three men did not correspond with real signatures from the Melbourne premiership side.
“I am satisfied all charges are found proven and to the criminal standard,” Mr Sonnet said.
He ordered Nixon pay back the three customers $595 for the fraudulent scheme.
Outside court, Spargo told media he was disappointed for Melbourne supporters who paid money for the signed merchandise.
“It’s just frustrating for the fans and the football club,” he said.
AAP
