The NRL Integrity Unit has opened an investigation into Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson following a tip-off from a whistle-blower about the club's finances under the embattled CEO.
Serious concerns over the conduct of Richardson and senior staff at the Tigers have been raised, following the removal of four independent directors including chairman Barry O'Farrell.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports Richardson's seven-figure termination pay-out is under threat, after an informant raised concerns about the amount of money being paid to a company Richardson part owns with his son, Brent, for marketing, branding and digital consultancy services.
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The NRL Integrity Unit has also been made aware of information regarding the employment of up to two other members of Richardson's family at the Wests Tigers.
Richardson declined to comment to the publication and reportedly had previously informed the club's board about the conflict of interest.
The Tigers CEO has reportedly identified the whistle-blower as a former staff member, and used Wests Tigers funds to send off a legal letter to the ex staffer this week.
The NRL received the tip-off through the league's private whistle-blower hotline and is understood to be in possession of evidence relating to the probe.
The Wests Tigers formerly had a whistle-blower hotline through Core Integrity, however the club decided to end its arrangement when Richardson took over from previous CEO Justin Pascoe.
Before the probe was undertaken by the NRL Integrity Unit, Richardson's future was under the spotlight, with the club's owners, Holman Barnes Group, reportedly frustrated by the lack of communication from the club CEO.
"Now, there's an agreement between Wests Tigers and Holman Barnes Group where certain decisions that are made need to come back to the owner for approval. That simply hasn't been happening," Holman Barnes CEO Daniel Paton told the Herald earlier this week.
"And I can give an example of that – the stadium policy around Leichhardt Oval. So the announcement was that Leichhardt Oval would be the home of Wests Tigers for the next 15 years.
"The Holman Barnes Group board only found out about that with 16,000 other fans at Leichhardt Oval. Which is really bad for business, and it's quite embarrassing really."
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