A FORMER footy umpire accused of defrauding Searoad Shipping for almost $9million has appeared in court.
Troy Pannell, 48, was brought before the Supreme Court of Victoria last week.
He faces the fraud matter as well as contempt of court charges for previously failing to appear in court. He has also pleaded guilty to selling shares in a racehorse after freezing orders were in place.
He is currently at Fulham Prison in Sale, a town in Victoria’s Gippsland region.
He was previously injured after crashing his car into a tree, spending time in hospital before moved to the prison.
Pannell is accused of allocating millions of dollars for container repairs to a company of which he was the sole director.
It is further alleged those repairs never occurred.
This behaviour is alleged to have occurred over a decade.
Pannell was also an AFL umpire from 2005 until 2018, officiating 291 games.
Before joining the big league, he was awarded the Golden Whistle by the New South Wales Australian Football Umpires Association.
Other highlights included umpiring the 2012 AFL elimination final between Geelong and Fremantle and a preliminary final between Sydney and North Melbourne in 2014.