The Shane Warne Foundation has cancelled the annual Joe Hachem & Shane Warne charity poker tournament after consumer watchdogs in Victoria ordered an independent financial audit of the non-profit.
The Shane Warne Foundation has cancelled the Annual Joe Hachem & Shane Warne Charity Poker Tournament after scrutiny applied to the non-profit intensified this week.
It was November when we first broke the news that the cricket legend, and former 888 Poker ambassador’s non-profit to aid the underprivileged and sick children, was being investigated by consumer watchdogs after a journalist revealed only 16 cents in the dollar was going towards support for the children.
Over the weekend, various press sources revealed that the foundation’s newly appointed CEO, Emma Coleman, had resigned in the wake of news that a consumer watchdog in Victoria had ordered an independent financial review. Reality TV star, and Shane Warne Foundation ambassador, Lydia Schiavello, also distanced herself from the charity.
Problems surfaced for the Foundation after several newspaper reports had suggested they failed to submit the appropriate financial documentation at the end of the year. The independent review will cover the past three and half years that the Foundation has been fundraising.
Warne tweeted a lengthy rebuttal on his Facebook page on the weekend where he commented on waking up to find ‘more malicious attacks and false allegations about the Shane Warne Foundation’.
He continued to lay the blame at the hands of journalists, and said that he couldn’t understand their ‘ridiculous crusade’ and ‘personal vendetta’. Warne went on to remind readers that ‘we have saved children’s lives and without our support would not be on this planet.’
Warne even delved into the foundations financials by declaring they had raised 7.8 million dollars and given away 3.6 million, and that figure was soon to rise to $4.1 million.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide, no one on the board has ever received one cent from the foundation in any way shape or form.” Wrote Warne.
