Man who stole $240,000 to lure international cricketers to suburban Melbourne given community service

Navishta Desilva, 36, pleads guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage

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Navishta Desilva claimed he felt trapped by “hype and expectation” after promising to fly in high-profile international cricketers to play in a suburban Melbourne competition, a court has heard.

When he could not find investors to pay for the players, who included West Indies’ veteran batter Chris Gayle, he turned to crime to raise funds for the Twilight T20 cricket series. Over 16 months, the Victorian county court was told, the part-time DJ stole more than $240,000 from Omnivision, his then employer, where he worked as a warehouse assistant.

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