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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Blake Foden

Charges against alleged football club fraudster dismissed

Aaron Alexander, left, leaves court on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Blake Foden

A magistrate has dismissed 143 charges levelled at a former Canberra football club president, clearing him of fraud allegations.

But Forde man Aaron David Alexander, 50, is still accused of stealing from the Gungahlin United Football Club.

Alexander, who is originally from the United States, first came before the ACT Magistrates Court when police arrested him in February 2020.

Investigators alleged at the time he had stolen at least $112,000 from the club between 2016 and 2018, when he was its president.

Two years on, Alexander faced a hearing after pleading not guilty to 216 charges relating to this claim.

Aaron Alexander outside court in February. Picture: Toby Vue

Half the charges were of obtaining property by deception, which is a fraud offence, while the remainder were back-up or alternative allegations of theft.

Prosecutor Marcus Dyason told the court Alexander had funded his lifestyle with the club's money, using it to lease a car, buy movie tickets and purchase items like chocolate.

"At the heart of it, the prosecution says none of those transactions, regardless of any authorisation or not, were for the club's purpose," he said this February.

Mr Dyason told the court Alexander had obtained the club's money via a credit card, cash withdrawals and electronic transfers to his personal bank account.

At the end of the prosecution case, Legal Aid defence lawyer Edward Chen argued Alexander had no case to answer.

After considering written submissions from the lawyers, magistrate Glenn Theakston dismissed all 108 fraud charges on Thursday.

Mr Theakston also threw out 35 of the theft charges, leaving 73 of these and making amendments to their wording.

He then asked Mr Chen to obtain instructions from Alexander about the remaining allegations.

Alexander's hearing will recommence on a date that is yet to be fixed.

In light of Thursday's decision, the amount Alexander now stands accused of stealing is unclear.

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