Shane Warne’s former personal assistant won a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz in a raffle held by the former cricketer’s foundation in June.
Helen Nolan, who was also a former general manager of the Shane Warne Foundation, won the new Mercedes-Benz CLA 200 in the raffle held as part of a fundraising swim across the English channel by former AFL footballer Campbell Brown.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Nolan was employed as Warne’s personal assistant for more than eight years, from 2005 until February 2014.
Between 2006 and 2009, she also served as the general manager of the cricketer’s foundation, which last month announced it would be shut down amid a Victorian government probe into its financial and reporting practices.
There is no suggestion Nolan’s win broke any laws. Victorian regulations prohibit only current employees of charities from entering raffle draws.
The foundation did not make the terms and conditions of the raffle available, but similar fundraising campaigns by the McGrath Foundation ban current employees and their immediate families from purchasing tickets.
Warne said the charity had “nothing to hide” after it emerged the organisation raised $1.8m between 2011 and 2013 but reportedly donated only 16 cents in every dollar to its beneficiaries.
It has been reported that one financial year the organisation paid its chief executive, Warne’s brother Jason, a salary of $80,000 but distributed only $54,600 to its beneficiaries.
The records also reportedly show the organisation spent more than $300,000 on catering, alcohol and prizes for events while posting significant annual losses.
Tickets in the raffle cost $150, and 1,500 were available.
A spokesman for the Shane Warne Foundation said Nolan’s “role with TSWF and professional relationship with Shane was disclosed publicly at the time of the draw”.
“The raffle was conducted according to necessary permits. The drawing of the raffle was filmed for compliance purposes by Triple M staff at Triple M studios in Melbourne in full view of staff and others. This footage was available online for public viewing following this,” he said.
