A judge has fined Mark Swanepoel millions of dollars in order to protect Australians from the latest nominee for The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Swanepoel played rugby for the Force and Brumbies and retired to start a business which was recently found to have breached credit rules for fees and charges.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern-day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes: the men’s and women’s National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while AFL player Noah Balta is the most recent recipient.
The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame honours former players and players who received media attention in previous seasons, for similarly scandalous behaviour, and its inductees include Ben Cousins and Julian O’Neill.
Swanepoel and his associates have been fined $7 million in the Federal Court after the companies Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions were found to have breached credit rules.
The companies operated as payday lending schemes offering access to loans from $50 to $1,000 — Centrelink loans and payday loans, among others, and it’s website read: “EMERGENCY cash when you need it.”
However, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) discovered they had generated more than $91 million in fees and charges.
The companies were fined millions of dollars, while Swanepoel was personally fined $500,000. The penalty for the former Australian junior representative was softened partly because he and his partners had sought top-shelf legal advice.
In handing down the punishment, ASIC chairman Joe Longo said the result showed his organisation’s commitment to “protecting Australians from predatory lending practices and holding individuals and companies accountable”.
Swanepoel weaved his way in and out of opposition defenders while playing scrumhalf for the ACT Brumbies and Western Force, but was not able to escape the judges of the Federal Court or The Frownlow Medal Hall of Fame.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 