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A former Geelong Football Club sponsor accused in court documents of defrauding up to $14.5 million from a charity had agreed to pay for luxury accommodation at Crown casino for more than a dozen Cats players, raising further questions about the club’s compliance with AFL rules.
Sy Giang Nguyen, who remains the subject of a three-year police investigation, also arranged for nine other Cats stars to receive room upgrades and access to Crown’s exclusive Crystal Club in 2019.
The secret financial deals involving a former sponsor raise further concerns about the scope and rigour of a recent AFL investigation into Geelong’s compliance with total player payments and soft cap rules between 2019 and 2024.
In October, the club was fined $77,500 – with $40,000 of that suspended – after an AFL audit found Geelong had not declared club sponsors or associates had allowed players to stay at a Queensland property, or had gifted them bottles of wine.
Several rival clubs were left seething by what they considered a meagre sanction and the failure of the AFL to properly examine Nguyen’s financial arrangements with some of Geelong’s biggest stars.
A senior figure at a Melbourne-based club, who asked not to be identified because of potential repercussions from the AFL, said: “This is all about brand protection … If you don’t look properly, then you’re obviously not going to find anything, and that’s exactly what’s happened with this investigation, if you can call it that.”
Last month, this masthead revealed Nguyen also paid more than $3300 towards the luxury accommodation of Cats stars Joel Selwood and Mitch Duncan at a German hotel in 2018.
The two hotel suites in Munich were booked under the names of the players’ partners by another Geelong benefactor, Stuart Coffield, who is managing director of Geelong Travel. At the time, Geelong and the AFL did not respond to requests for comment from The Age.
New documents obtained by this masthead now reveal Nguyen also offered to pay for suites at Crown Towers for nine emerging Cats players attending the best and fairest night on October 3, 2019.
“In Thursday 3/10 and out Friday 4/10. I pay, but king room only and no Crystal Club,” Nguyen wrote in an email to Crown Hotels staff.
He provided a list of the players, including Charlie Constable, Zac Smith, Jed Bews and Jack Henry.
A separate list of established Cats stars, including Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins, Tom Stewart and Patrick Dangerfield, were all required to pay for their stay at Crown, but received room upgrades and access to an exclusive lounge known as the Crystal Club, which can be bought for between $160 and $175.
Nguyen also offered to pay for seven Geelong players to stay at Crown in 2016, according to an email with the subject title “room bookings for the Cats boys”. The bookings again coincided with the club’s best and fairest night on October 6 of that year.
A Crown casino source said several Geelong players were regular guests at rooms linked to a master account held by Nguyen, who held an exclusive black card under Crown’s loyalty program.
“He [Nguyen] also sourced tickets from Crown for everything from the Australian Open to the spring racing carnival to international music acts, which were then passed on to Cats players free of charge,” the Crown source said.
This masthead does not suggest any wrongdoing by the Geelong players, or suggest they were aware of Nguyen’s alleged involvement in a major fraud.
Under AFL guidelines, clubs are required to detail any benefit to players or officials that they receive via a club associate or sponsor.
While the AFL investigation found Geelong had not breached the salary cap or the AFL’s soft cap between 2019 and 2024, the club was ordered to complete additional compliance requirements, including maintaining active registers of arrangements with club associates and third parties.
However, the AFL has refused to confirm if it examined Nguyen’s dealings with players while he was a sponsor at Geelong.
AFL corporate affairs general manager Jay Allen and Geelong spokeswoman Sarah Kalaja did not respond to questions from this masthead.
Nguyen and his lawyer, Roger Vrachnas, of Gigliotti Lawyers, declined to comment and did not respond to detailed questions.
Despite his opulent lifestyle and largesse towards the Cats, Nguyen was paid an average salary for his role as an information technology manager at genU – one of the nation’s largest providers for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. He was previously employed in a similar role with not-for-profit organisation St Laurence Community Services since the 1990s.
Nguyen was dismissed in October 2022 by genU, which accused him in Supreme Court documents of colluding with late Geelong businessman Keith Greenwood to defraud up to $14.5 million.
Lawyers acting for genU will also pursue Geelong Football Club, Crown Resorts and other third-parties that may have benefited from the alleged fraud.
Nguyen wielded extraordinary influence at Crown, where he had permanent access to a private villa on the 36th floor from at least 2004 until 2022. His residence at Crown included sprawling living areas replete with a baby grand piano, 12-person dining table, private bar and an on-call butler.
In September 2015, Nguyen used his extensive contacts at Crown to arrange public speaking gigs for former Geelong coach Mark “Bomber” Thompson. He negotiated a $3000 cash payment for Thompson to attend the function.
“I will sent [sic] this to Bomber. I think just the cash is easy and that he would prefer,” said Nguyen in an email to Crown’s events and sponsorship co-ordinator.
Thompson, who had no official involvement with any AFL club at the time of the payment, did not respond to requests for comment.
Nguyen was a close friend of Peter Crinis, who held a range of senior roles – including chief operating officer of Crown Hotels, Retail and Food & Beverage – over a 23-year career with the gaming giant. When Crinis was married in 2012, Nguyen sat at the bridal table. The pair co-owned race horse Lady Daylight and travelled together to Las Vegas and London.
A Crown source, who asked not to be identified because of repercussions, said casino management made inquiries about the source of Nguyen’s wealth on at least two occasions.
In 2022, his association with the Southbank gaming venue ended abruptly, when he was banned by Crown management.
Crinis did not respond to requests for comment, while a Crown casino spokesman released a short statement.
“These allegations are historical and relate to a period prior to the current ownership of Crown,” the spokeswoman said.
According to court documents, Nguyen and the late Greenwood siphoned millions of dollars from the registered charity by buying or leasing thousands of IT products on behalf of genU that were never delivered.
Greenwood’s former business, Ryrie Office Machines, was 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.
“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,” former genU chief executive Clare Amies said in an affidavit.
While the civil case has been resolved, Nguyen and Greenwood remain the subject of a long-running police investigation that began in February 2023. Detectives from the financial crime squad arrested and interviewed both men last year, before they were released without charges.
Nguyen and Greenwood agreed in June last year to repay $5.8 million to resolve the civil case with genU.
However, after making an initial payment of $1.4 million, the pair failed to pay the second tranche of $3 million on September 26, four days before Greenwood’s death.
Last month, lawyers for genU applied to the Supreme Court to appoint a receiver to dispose of assets from Greenwood’s estate to settle the debt.
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