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Former Paramatta Eels star Will Hopoate allegedly received payments from Eddie Obeid jnr

Adrian Proszenko

Former Parramatta star Will Hopoate allegedly received off-the-books payments of at least $50,000 from Eddie Obeid jnr in the latest twist in the salary cap scandal.

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Eels fined $1 million

The NRL confirmed the Parramatta Eels would have 12 competition points deducted and be fined $1 million.

Just hours after the Eels were stripped of 12 competition points for salary cap rorting, they were again reeling from allegations that playmaker Corey Norman was paid cash at Top Ryde car park by Brisbane recruiter Peter Nolan during his time at the club.

At the time of the alleged payments, Norman was also allegedly receiving $3000 per month to cover his rental of a Top Ryde apartment that was owned by the former Labor minister Eddie Obeid. Nolan and one-time English import Lee Mossop are also understood to have been renting apartments in the same complex.

It has been alleged by former Eels CEO Scott Seward that one of the sources of under-the-table payments was Eddie Obeid jnr – the youngest son of the disgraced former Labor powerbroker, who will learn next month whether he will be jailed after being found guilty of misconduct in public office.

In a signed statement provided to the NRL integrity unit, Seward outlined his knowledge of payments to players that were made contrary to salary cap rules. In the statement – obtained by Fairfax Media – Seward alleged that a person referred to in secret club documents as "EOJ" had paid undisclosed money to Hopoate.

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Describing a register that kept tabs of the payments, Seward stated: "Will Hopoate was paid $100,000 in 2014 (sourced from EOJ) … The reference to EOJ is a reference to Eddie Obeid Jnr as I had a clear understanding he had contributed $50,000 to Will Hopoate."

Later in his statement, Seward noted: "Will Hopoate was not at the club when I commenced as CEO. He started playing for the Club in 2014 and did not play rugby league in 2012 or 2013. Accordingly, the TPAs [third-party agreements] promised to him must [have] been in 2011. The Club signed Will to play for the Club in 2011.

"There was also a lot of discussion with Nolan that Eddie Obeid Jnr had given him some money. Hopoate was originally owed $100,000 and I was informed that he was now owed $50,000, so I assumed that Obeid had given him $50,000. However, Obeid never told me that he had paid Hopoate $50,000. The 2014 spreadsheet records Hopoate as having received $50,000 from EOJ."

Seward also noted that on top of a registered third-party arrangement for $20,000 "there was also a note that $7,000 was owed to Will (or his father)". He added: "I'm not aware of this payment being made."

Will Hopoate signed with Canterbury at the start of the year but remains embroiled in a contract dispute with Parramatta that remains before the Supreme Court.

Obeid jnr has previously declined to comment about rumoured payments to Hopoate, saying merely that as a "property developer and friend" he had offered him real estate advice.

Last year, Obeid jnr said he had "personally helped Chris [Sandow] in a small capacity financially from time to time as a friend" but he declined to comment on amounts he had given.

He has also previously confirmed that his family's company had sold former Eels forward Darcy Lussick a discounted unit, a deal which was found by the NRL to have no salary cap implications.

Seward's statement, signed in Melbourne on May 2, 2016, was one of the many pieces of evidence the NRL used to impose sanctions on Parramatta, including a $1 million fine and the cancellation of registrations of five key officials.

However, the blowtorch could yet be applied to player managers – and potentially even players – as the governing body progresses to the next phase of its investigation.

Seward and former Eels football manager Jason Irvine – both of whom admitted to making cash payments to former hooker Nathan Peats – were painted by some Eels administrators as rogue employees who broke the rules without their knowledge.

This grated with the pair, who claimed most of the club's administration were aware – or had instructed them – to circumvent the salary cap. In the transcripts from his interview with the integrity unit, Irvine stated: "That's when I was really upset when he [former Parramatta chairman Steve Sharp] said it was rogue – they're rogue employees. I'm, 'Mate, I just didn't do this on my own'."

Hopoate did not return calls yesterday.