RUMOURS are flying this afternoon that the Brumbies’ controversial sale of their Griffith headquarters has been referred to the police.
ACT Policing have made this statement on the matter:
ACT Policing can confirm it has received a referral from the Brumbies and Australian Rugby Union that is currently being assessed. It is not appropriate to make any further comment.
UPDATE: The Brumbies have made the following statement:
Yesterday the Brumbies referred the outcomes of an independent review undertaken by the ARU integrity unit and KPMG Forensic to ACT Policing for further assessment.
The investigation conducted by the Brumbies was related to a series of transactions and agreements that occurred between 2009 and 2013 and are linked to the sale of the Brumbies’ former headquarters at Griffith and the subsequent move to the University of Canberra.
The investigation by the ARU and KPMG Forensic was initiated by the Brumbies as a result of a number of anomalies found following an internal review of these transactions.
ACT Police will now undertake its own review and assessment of the matter. It is unknown how long this process will take. The ARU is confident the Brumbies Board is dealing with this investigation in the proper manner.
Brumbies CEO Michael Jones said that while the situation is regrettable, the Brumbies’ actions in referring these matters to the ACT Police were essential and appropriate.
“I want to stress that no current staff member is implicated in this matter in any way,” Mr Jones said.
“Because we are not an investigative authority we could only take our own review into the matter so far and felt it was appropriate that we join with the ARU to engage KPMG Forensic to conduct a full and independent investigation into the situation.
“The KPMG report identified a number of unanswered questions in the transactions and agreements, and the Board determined there was no alternative but to act in accordance with corporations law and refer the matter to the Police.
“I want to reassure our partners, stakeholders, players, staff and members that these matters took place over two years ago and do not relate to our current on-field, commercial operations or governance arrangements,” Mr Jones said.
Brumbies Chairman Robert Kennedy said that the Brumbies Board, along with the ARU, adopts the highest possible level of corporate governance and transparency and it is with these standards in mind that this action today has been taken.
“Any indications of improper dealings are taken extremely seriously and investigated fully,” he said. “In this case, having exhausted our internal powers of investigation and on the advice of independent forensic investigators, KPMG, we were left with some questions still unanswered and referred the issue to the appropriate authorities.”
“The matter involved is in the years past and I have full confidence in the current Board and management and am confident it will not impact on the current or future operations of the Brumbies.”
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