Attempt to defraud Cricket Australia ends with hefty fine

A businessman escaped jail after an attempt to defraud Cricket Australia in 2002 was uncovered. Christopher Kent, a 46-year-old publisher from Queensland, was fined $11,000 by a Victoria court after pleading guilty to a charge of attempting to obtain a financial advantage

Kent admitted contacting Cricket Australia (at that time the Australian Cricket Board) falsely claiming a media organisation was offering $5,000 to his then 15-year-old niece to tell her story about an alleged kissing encounter with Shane Warne. He asked the board to match the offer either with cash or VIP tickets and so avoid publicity. Warne strenuously denied the allegations and was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Kent also admitted a second charge of using a telephone to menace the ACB.

The judge said he agreed with a defence submission that Kent's conduct was both naive and stupid, but he added that the level of dishonesty was high.

Reputations in any field of endeavour were important, particularly so in a sport at an elite level. "You had the potential to tarnish the reputations of the ACB and its contracted players," said the judge. The incident had caused Warne "hardship and embarrassment" and the negative publicity could have had serious consequences for his public standing in the commercial world.

Kent was originally charged with blackmail.