An ex-AFL umpire has been accused of placing fraudulent bets under a different account name about players he knew would receive Brownlow Medal votes and passing insider information onto others.
Michael Pell, who resigned from AFL umpiring in 2022, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with six betting fraud offences over the 2021 Brownlow Medal awards.
He is accused of communicating information to three men, including co-accused William Forde, in connection with "which AFL player was awarded three Brownlow Medal votes or any Brownlow Medal votes in six games" ahead of the awards night in September 2021, court documents reveal.
When Pell passed on the insider information, the then-umpire "knew that the information was about conduct that corrupted the betting outcome of the event", according to charge sheets.
The 34-year-old is further accused of placing bets himself on "to poll three Brownlow Medal votes" and "to poll a Brownlow Medal vote" from five or six AFL games under the account name Lincoln Busby.
He allegedly placed bets under this name with Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and Neds in September 2021, while "being in possession of information in connection with the event contingency about conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome of the event".
Forde, 35, is facing 53 charges, including dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by using another person's credentials to operate a betting account, passing on information to others to place fraudulent bets, and placing fraudulent bets himself, on the 2021 and 2022 Brownlows.
He allegedly also placed bets across a range of wagering services - including Palmerbet, Betstar, Bookmaker, TAB, bet365, Betfair, TopSport, Ladbrokes and Neds - under his own name.
Pell's brother Donovan, 31, has been charged with 23 offences, including using two different account names and dishonestly obtaining their personal credentials, to place bets about who would poll Brownlow Medal votes at the 2021 awards.
Mitch Lucas, 32, has been accused of 20 offences including communicating information about the 2022 Brownlows to others, knowing they would place bets, and placing bets himself under both his own name and a different name.
The documents were released to media on Thursday afternoon, after all four men faced court in person.
The charges related to about $300,000 in fraudulent betting, the court was told, and many of the co-accused and witnesses in the case are family members or co-workers.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet said the accused men, who were charged on summons, each needed to be placed on bail as the charges were "serious".
He placed them all on bail with conditions that they reside at their homes and cannot leave Australia.
The group will return to court on October 22 for committal mentions.
Umpires award Brownlow votes on a 3-2-1 basis after each game, with tight security around the details until the AFL chief executive reads them out on presentation night.
Umpires and other AFL personnel are not allowed to gamble on the game.
Port Adelaide's Ollie Wines won the 2021 award, with Carlton captain Patrick Cripps claiming the Brownlow the next year.
The AFL ruled out changes to the voting process after the scandal but Victoria's gambling watchdog unveiled greater safeguards in 2023, including spot audits on AFL employees and greater surveillance of umpires.
