‘Not a shred': Claim against pop star Guy Sebastian denied in trial against manager Titus Day

News.com.au

5 hours ago

Guy Sebastian's ex-manager Titus Day will in the coming days learn his fate over allegations he embezzled over $600,000 from the pop star, as a court was told there was 'not a shred of evidence' to support counter claims the singer had withheld money from his former friend.
Mr Sebastian's former manager Titus Day is standing trial in the NSW District Court, accused of embezzling performance fees and royalties from the Australian Idol winner.
Mr Day has denied doing anything dishonest or fraudulent, and 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.
His trial has entered its closing stages with Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield SC beginning his closing address to the jury on Monday.
In the coming days, the jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict following a month-long trial.
One of the charges relates to an allegation that Mr Day failed to remit $187,000 to Mr Sebastian for performance fees as a support act for Taylor Swift on her 2013 tour of Australia.
Other charges relate to performances at private weddings, corporate gigs, cricket matches and for overseas royalties for Mr Sebastian's hit 'Battle Scars', his duet with US rapper Lupe Fiasco which helped him break into the American market for the first time.
The court has heard that Mr Sebastian first became involved with Mr Day when he joined 22 Management early in his career.
However he later followed Mr Day when he started his own management company, 6 Degrees.
The court has been told that their relationship began to deteriorate over time after Mr Sebastian found what he alleged were irregularities in his financial records.
Their personal and professional relationship soured and ended with the pair making claims that the other owed them money.
The court has been told that in 2018 Mr Sebastian filed proceedings against Mr Day in the Federal Court, which prompted his former manager and 6 Degrees to file a counterclaim
During his closing address, Mr Hatfield took the jury to sections of Mr Day's evidence in which he told the court that 'Guy has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars of mine without telling me' and that he was keeping money that was owed to him.
Mr Sebastian has not been charged with any offence, nor has he been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Mr Hatfield told the jury there was 'not a shred of evidence' to suggest the pop star had withheld commissions owing to his manager.
'Absolutely no evidence Mr Sebastian had concealed anything,' Mr Hatfield said.
'It was not put to him that he had concealed anything.'
Mr Hatfield said that Mr Day was not entitled to withdraw money from the 6 Degrees Trust Account into which Mr Sebastian's income was paid.
'The accused, who told you he was admitted as a lawyer, you might think would know perfectly well that trust funds are to be kept separate from his business and personal funds and he was obliged to account to the beneficiary, Mr Sebastian, for them,' Mr Hatfield said.
'His assertions about his rights to use the money how he pleased, and his common practice of taking money when he needed it for cash flow purposes, should not deflect you in your judgments about what the accused must have known and his state of mind in relation to it.'
Mr Day's barrister Thomas Woods previously told the court that while Mr Day had 'on some occasions' failed to transfer money to Mr Sebastian, he denied doing anything criminal.