Shane Warne Foundation announces closure after speculation over funds

Blaming "unwarranted speculation" over the distribution of its funds, The Shane Warne Foundation (TSWF) has today (29th January) announced that it will close and cease operations.

Just days after the cricketer declared that his charity had “nothing to hide” a statement on the Foundation website advised that "it is ceasing operations and has begun the process of closing the Foundation."

Late last year, media reports suggested that the Foundation donated just 16¢ of every dollar it raised on behalf of charities that care for sick and underprivileged children.

In October, documents obtained by The Sunday Age revealed that the majority of its funds were spent staging celebrity events such as cricket matches, poker tournaments and gala dinners.

Reports indicated that it also spent $210,000 employing Shane Warne's brother in an executive position at TSWF and that it appeared to have been paying rent to Warne's parents and a company associated with one of the directors of the charity.

Amid the scrutiny, the Foundation tried to have its records declared confidential by the national charity regulator under a Federal law used to protect the safety of family violence charities.

The allegations led Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) to begin monitoring the Foundation where its reportedly discovered inconsistencies in its financial reporting.

Last week, a CAV spokesperson advised that the Foundation had failed to lodge an annual statement last October, as required under the law.

The spokesperson told the ABC "CAV subsequently made a number of requests for the required financial information, however what was provided was not sufficient.

"Because of this, on 24th December 2015 the director of CAV ... issued a formal request with TSWF for an independent auditor's report on its fundraising activities for the past three-and-a-half years."

The audit, which must be done by a registered company auditor, has to be completed by 29th February.

Warne (pictured above) responded to the news of the investigation on Sunday in a 600-word Facebook post declaring “we have absolutely nothing to hide.”

Commenting on the audit, the cost of which is to be funded by the Foundation, Warne wrote "this is a disgrace and absurd and will go down as an expense. 

“Go through everything you want at anytime as we have nothing to hide, but you pay for it, as the Foundation would rather spend the $10,000 on children in need than on an audit.”

Prior to Christmas, the Foundation told the media it donated 30¢ of every dollar raised in 2014. However, records for 2014 show just 11¢ of every dollar raised were actually earmarked for charities that care for sick and needy children that year.

The board of the Shane Warne Foundation is packed with Australian business and entertainment luminaries, including Eddie McGuire, Seek.com founder Andrew Bassat​, Crown executive Ann Peacock, and comedian Glenn Robbins.

Click here to view the statement from The Shane Warne Foundation.

Shane Warne image courtesy of The Shane Warne Foundation.

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