‘Consciousness of guilt': Big claim against Guy Sebastian's manager as embezzlement trial nears close
Titus Emanuel Day is on trial in the NSW District Court where he has denied embezzling over $600,000 in royalties and performance fees from the Australian Idol winner.
Mr Day's trial has entered its closing stages, with the jury expected to retire to consider their verdict in the coming days.
The former manager to the pop star has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of embezzlement as a clerk or servant and one count of attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception and is fighting the allegations.
During his closing address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC said Mr Day had fabricated invoices to demand payment from Mr Sebastian.
'The fact that he went to the trouble to create these invoices that were not accurate shows that he knew that he had not honestly accounted to Mr Sebastian for the relevant transactions at the time – that he fraudulently embezzled the money,' Mr Hatfield told the court.
'And that was the reason why he would have done what he did in creating these documents to account for the transactions retrospectively.'
Mr Hatfield said Mr Day had displayed a 'consciousness of guilt' by fabricating the invoices and was attempting to cover his tracks.
'You wouldn't make it up unless you knew what you'd done in the first place was fraudulently embezzle the money,' Mr Hatfield said.
Mr Sebastian was Mr Day's long-time client and friend and followed him when he created his own agency, 6 Degrees Management, in 2009.
However, they had a bitter falling out in 2017 after Mr Sebastian raised what he alleged were irregularities in his financial records.
Mr Sebastian, during his evidence, told the court he was happy with Mr Day's management when he first moved into his stable.
Tensions arose and his bookkeepers were forced to chase information and clarification about payments
The Crown contends Mr Day failed to remit performance fees and royalties which were collected on Mr Sebastian's behalf.
It is alleged he embezzled performance fees, including $187,000 for supporting Taylor Swift on her 2013 tour of Australia, as well as for private weddings, a Big Bash cricket game and corporate events.
Mr Day's barrister, Thomas Woods, previously told the court that money from Mr Sebastian's performance on the Taylor Swift tour was used to purchase shares on his behalf.
Mr Sebastian, in his evidence, described the claims as 'completely fabricated' and a 'complete lie'.
Mr Day, through his legal team, has denied he did anything criminal, dishonest and fraudulent.
Mr Day told the court that issues had begun to 'creep in' to his management company as a result of pressure sparked by his mother's declining health around 2016.
'My accounting slipped, I wasn't able to send statements or invoices … I made mistakes in transactions and banking descriptions,' Mr Day previously said.
Mr Day's defence is expected to begin their closing submissions on Tuesday.
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