Surf star Tyler Wright is allegedly robbed of $1.5million by her bookkeeper, 53, who is now facing 749 fraud charges
Two-time world champion surfer Tyler Wright is the alleged victim of a million-dollar fraud scheme carried out by a family friend.
The beloved Australian surfer, 27, has been on the World Surf League tour since she was just 14 and hired a bookkeeper to look after her finances.
Shane Maree Hatton, 53, has now been charged with defrauding the Shoalhaven waverider and her two brothers, Owen and Mikey, who are also professional surfers, $1.5million over the past decade.
Detectives arrested Hatton, 53, in a Wednesday morning raid at her home in Vincentia on the South Coast of NSW.
Two-time world champion surfer Tyler Wright is the alleged victim of a million-dollar fraud scheme carried out by a family friend
The beloved Australian surfer, 27, has been on the World Surf League tour since she was just 14 and had employed the services of a bookkeeper to look after her finances
Shortly after, officers executed a search warrant and seized documents for forensic examination electronic devices for forensic examination.
The woman was taken to Nowra Police Station and charged with a staggering 749 counts of fraud.
Police were only alerted to the alleged fraud scheme in October last year when Wright’s celebrity agent Nick Fordham found inconsistencies in her finances.
‘There is a trend of family friends and relatives, who are less than qualified, managing large amounts of money and they can’t resist the temptation of taking some of the money for themselves,’ State Crime Command Director, Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett told the Daily Telegraph.
He said it was an all-too-common for big-money earners to be taken advantage of by those close to them.
‘The first thing they need to do is employ reputable companies, not family friends to handle their careers,’ Chief Superintendent Bennett said.
‘They need to get contracts, and with legal advice. Then they need to take an interest in their money day to day and the movement of money in their bank accounts.’
Shane Maree Hatton, 53, was arrested in a Wednesday morning raid at her home in at a home in Vincentia on the South Coast of New South Wales
The woman was taken to Nowra Police Station and charged with a staggering 749 counts of fraud
Hatton worked for Wright’s mum and dad’s family plumbing business years before taking control of the surfer’s finances.
Investigators suspect the money that was allegedly wiped out by Hatton will never be retrieved with more than $1.2 million gambled away on poker machines, according to police.
Wright, is currently in Newcastle preparing for the second stop on the World Surf League tour.
She has won 14 world events and claimed two world titles in 2016 and 2017.
Hatton was granted bail and will face court on April 26.
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