Geoffrey Edelsten - 1943 – 2021

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NAB777 said:
Tim Watson's book on Sheedy had a funny story about Edelsten. Apparently he & Leanne went out to dinner with Sheedy & Noel Judkins & a few Sydney officials , and Leanne disappeared after each course & came back in a different outfit, and later fell asleep at the table.

Then after the meal, Sheedy offered them a lift back to the city & they had to get in the back of his Celica which was full of newspapers & had dodgy brakes :)
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Don't leave us hanging...tell us the funny story...
 

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A few excerpts from "Doctor" Edelston's highlights reel:

De-registered as a doctor (but still called himself one):

"In 1988, New South Wales removed Edelsten from its medical register for using unqualified staff."​

Lied to the authorities to get himself re-instated:

"Representing himself, Mr Edelsten admitted he lied to the tribunal when he last applied to be reregistered in 2001, but had since seen the error of his ways."​

Hired a hitman, Christopher Dale Flannery (aka Mr Rent-A-Kill):

"Edelsten was found guilty in 1990 of soliciting former hitman Christopher Flannery to assault a former patient. A taped telephone conversation between Geoffrey and Leanne Edelsten in the 1980s about Flannery was the key evidence that convicted him. At one point in the conversation, Leanne asked: "Bashing up people, is that all he [Flannery] does?" Edelsten replied: "No, he kills people ... nice young fella."​

Convicted and jailed for perverting the course of justice:

"Edelsten had provided a medical certificate in 1984 stating that Flannery was unfit to stand trial because of an infection following tattoo removal surgery, leading to the trial being adjourned and Flannery's case not being heard by a particular judge. Edelsten and Flannery's wife testified at a Victorian Medical Board hearing that Flannery was ill and in hospital and that he had no contact with Edelsten before or at the time of the assault. However Edelsten was jailed for one year for perverting the course of justice and soliciting an assault."​

A crook and a spiv, and always was. Like many crooks and spivs over the years, he tried to use football clubs to launder his reputation. Some clubs were dumb enough (Sydney) or desperate enough (Carlton) to go along with it.
 
Gordon Farkas said:
A few excerpts from "Doctor" Edelston's highlights reel:

De-registered as a doctor (but still called himself one):

"In 1988, New South Wales removed Edelsten from its medical register for using unqualified staff."​

Lied to the authorities to get himself re-instated:

"Representing himself, Mr Edelsten admitted he lied to the tribunal when he last applied to be reregistered in 2001, but had since seen the error of his ways."​

Hired a hitman, Christopher Dale Flannery (aka Mr Rent-A-Kill):

"Edelsten was found guilty in 1990 of soliciting former hitman Christopher Flannery to assault a former patient. A taped telephone conversation between Geoffrey and Leanne Edelsten in the 1980s about Flannery was the key evidence that convicted him. At one point in the conversation, Leanne asked: "Bashing up people, is that all he [Flannery] does?" Edelsten replied: "No, he kills people ... nice young fella."​

Convicted and jailed for perverting the course of justice:

"Edelsten had provided a medical certificate in 1984 stating that Flannery was unfit to stand trial because of an infection following tattoo removal surgery, leading to the trial being adjourned and Flannery's case not being heard by a particular judge. Edelsten and Flannery's wife testified at a Victorian Medical Board hearing that Flannery was ill and in hospital and that he had no contact with Edelsten before or at the time of the assault. However Edelsten was jailed for one year for perverting the course of justice and soliciting an assault."​

A crook and a spiv, and always was. Like many crooks and spivs over the years, he tried to use football clubs to launder his reputation. Some clubs were dumb enough (Sydney) or desperate enough (Carlton) to go along with it.
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You pontificating puritan.
 

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PetterdHoisted said:
78 yo found dead at home, I didn’t get that implication? Were there lifeline ph numbers at article end?
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Didn't see the usual contact numbers either, but the article I read said "no suspicious circumstances" which I've usually read as another typical euphemism. I may be completely wrong though.

The reports that I've read aren't even really attempting to sugar coat his contribution to the world. "Colourful" is about the nicest adjective they're mustering up.
 
I might be drawing a very very long bow but you never know with this bloke............. but interesting timing that he seems to have met his demise just after a massive worldwide drug bust. I'm sure a few colorful identities are currently shaking in their boots that the cops will get them next or worse...underworld enemies will turn on them.
 
Gordon Farkas said:
A few excerpts from "Doctor" Edelston's highlights reel:

De-registered as a doctor (but still called himself one):

"In 1988, New South Wales removed Edelsten from its medical register for using unqualified staff."​

Lied to the authorities to get himself re-instated:

"Representing himself, Mr Edelsten admitted he lied to the tribunal when he last applied to be reregistered in 2001, but had since seen the error of his ways."​

Hired a hitman, Christopher Dale Flannery (aka Mr Rent-A-Kill):

"Edelsten was found guilty in 1990 of soliciting former hitman Christopher Flannery to assault a former patient. A taped telephone conversation between Geoffrey and Leanne Edelsten in the 1980s about Flannery was the key evidence that convicted him. At one point in the conversation, Leanne asked: "Bashing up people, is that all he [Flannery] does?" Edelsten replied: "No, he kills people ... nice young fella."​

Convicted and jailed for perverting the course of justice:

"Edelsten had provided a medical certificate in 1984 stating that Flannery was unfit to stand trial because of an infection following tattoo removal surgery, leading to the trial being adjourned and Flannery's case not being heard by a particular judge. Edelsten and Flannery's wife testified at a Victorian Medical Board hearing that Flannery was ill and in hospital and that he had no contact with Edelsten before or at the time of the assault. However Edelsten was jailed for one year for perverting the course of justice and soliciting an assault."​

A crook and a spiv, and always was. Like many crooks and spivs over the years, he tried to use football clubs to launder his reputation. Some clubs were dumb enough (Sydney) or desperate enough (Carlton) to go along with it.
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The first charge wasn’t his fault, they hoodwinked him into thinking they were real nurses!
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Shane Heard said:
The good doctor was the Peter Foster of the medical world.
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He was also the Peter Foster of the football world.

The following extract is from "Football Ltd: The Inside Story of the AFL" (Garry Linnell, 1995)

*****​

Edelsten’s Dural mansion was packed on 31 July. There seemed to be people in every room of the house and the house had a lot of damn rooms. There were reports and photographers, television cameramen and sound men, publicity flacks and a general assortment of hangers-on.

The phone finally rang. It was Commissioner Hamilton. Congratulations, he told Edelsten. You now own the Sydney Swans.

The clubs had readily grabbed Edelsten’s cash. In the end, the Commission had brought a white board into the board room and divided it in two. On the left side it wrote Edelsten’s bid. On the right, Seller’s final bid. It was, of course, no contest.

And now the celebrations were well underway. Pritchard had achieved his dream. Edelsten was now more famous that he could have ever imagined. And Jim McKay had once again added to his reputation as a man who could get things fixed in football.

But an hour into the celebratory party, Edelsten asked Pritchard to meet him in a bedroom upstairs. They closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed.

The moment would remain forever etched in Pritchard’s memory. ‘We’re sitting there on the bed and he says, “mate, there’s something I’ve really got to tell you. The only problem is I don’t have a dime. I have no f*cking money whatsoever. So now we have to go out there tomorrow and find someone with the dough.”

‘I said “Jesus, I’ve already been through all that”.’

Pritchard, however, would not have to endure the agony of finding someone with money to invest in a football club. Instead, they would come to him. He just wouldn’t know about it until it was too late.

Edelsten had done business with many men over the years. One of them was a public accountant from Perth, Robert Nichevich. He was the major shareholder in a small public company with the name of Westeq Ltd.

Edelsten had been shopping around looking for an investor to help him expand the medical clinics. During one meeting, Edelsten excused himself. He had to rush off for a meeting concerning the Swans. Nichevich was interested. He introduced Edelsten to two partners, Phillip Grimaldi and Bob Coghill.

By the time Edelsten was due to make his second instalment of $250,000 to the VFL on 5 September, Westeq had agreed to fund it. The doctor had at last found what he’d been looking for.

At least, that is what he thought. But Westeq, which had only joined the stock exchange in 1983, had visions of something more. Grimaldi, Coghill and others drove a hard bargain with Edelsten. In return for their money, his shareholding in the venture would be slashed. The first thing Pritchard, who had set up a company called Powerplay to run the enterprise, knew about Westeq was when he was called to a meeting in the office of Grimaldi.

‘I got called into his office one day and I’d never met him before, he said ‘We’re the new owners of the Swans’ … I went from 25 per cent to 5 per cent in two and a half minutes,’ he would say later. ‘They told me that still wanted me to stay as chief executive, but that Geoff was not going to have much to do with the club. He’d be a figurehead.

‘They were all accountants. They weren’t keen on all the Edelsten stuff. The idea was to float the thing and raise money. They didn’t like the idea of pink helicopters…’

Whilst his shareholding had been cut significantly, Edelsten remained undeterred. He was the public face of the Sydney Swans. And the club would still need him if it hoped to be successful. And besides, not even the VFL Commission knew who really owned the Swans.
 
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The end of an era. Private ownership in the competition was always a high risk business. He gave it one heck of a go though. The Swans of 1986 and 1987 were incredible.

They needed a coach who could handle it. Tom Hafey was the perfect fit.

The open cheque book meant they could get just about anyone. And they did.

Greg Williams
Gerard Healy
Jim Edmond
Merv Neagle
Glenn Coleman

They had arguably the most marketable footballer in the game in Warwick Capper, who sold that many bums on seats in Sydney it became box office footy.

Behind it was this bloke very few knew of...that was the Doc.
 
theyellowsash said:
That's convicted fraudster, money launderer and tax evader Geoffrey eddelston to you
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No, that's what he was to you, despite you not even being able to correctly spell his name.
 
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