Guy Sebastian, an Australian music star, has said that convicted embezzler Titus Day “pushed him to the brink” and left him in need of counseling.
Last week, Day was sentenced to at least two-and-a-half years in prison for stealing more than $600,000 from Sebastian while serving as his manager.
Sebastian claimed in a heartbreaking victim impact statement that he is “not the same person” since discovering that his friend had stolen from him.
In 2009, the court heard that Sebastian “made a leap of faith” when he followed Day from his old workplace to his management firm.
He stated that the two were incredibly close, with Sebastian adding that he regarded Day as a “brother.”
Guy Sebastian (left) and his wife, Jules, described the trial against his former manager, Titus Day, as “mental agony” (right)
Titus Day will serve a minimum of two and a half years in prison on 34 counts relating to the theft of almost $600,000 from his former client, Guy Sebastian.
In his statement, he states that he has begun to see a therapist after Day violated his trust.
He stated that his former manager’s attempts to “hide his lie” were more damaging than the actual theft.
“Discovering the extent of the falsehoods spoken by a man I considered a brother has irrevocably altered my perspective on certain situations and my capacity to believe in the inherent goodness of people,” he said.
“Having someone so close to me and my family be so deceitful has essentially dismantled the belief system I had up to that moment.”
The mental torment my wife and I had to face in order to obtain justice drove us to the brink of insanity.
Sebastian further mentioned how the stolen monies prevented him from advancing his profession.
He added, “I was performing tour after tour, concert after performance, only to be informed that I was losing money on these tours and had to balance and manage cashflow.”
Sebastian (shown with his wife, Jules) stated that he is “not the same guy” after discovering Day’s “deceit.”
It was a blow to the heart to discover that Titus was utilizing this money for his personal benefit, in addition to the 20% of my salary to which he was legally entitled.
Day was given a maximum jail term of four years by Judge Tim Gartelmann at the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney.
Judge Gartelmann stated that the offenses were “all done for financial benefit,” but it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Day, 49, was motivated by avarice.
Judge Gartelmann stated, “There is no proof of regret, as the defendant maintains his innocence, nor is there any evidence about the likelihood of rehabilitation.”
Sebastian has been sentenced to pay him $624,675 for 34 offenses.
Professionally, it was quite doubtful that Day would ever recover from the publicity surrounding the case and the ruin of his reputation.
The court battle set two former best friends against one another and brought in their spouses, who had previously been close friends.
The terrible breakup between Sebastian and Day shook the entertainment industry as well.
According to Judge Gartelmann, character witnesses unanimously rated Day as generous, honest, and dependable. All agreed that his behavior was out of character.
Tina Arena was among those who offered Day with a reference, characterizing him as “someone she trusts” and “a man of honesty and integrity.”
READ GUY SEBASTIAN’S COURT-SUBMISSIONED LETTER TO THE JUDGE
It is impossible to summarize the significance of Titus Day’s crimes, Your Honor. Obviously, this tragedy has traumatized me personally, but it has also affected so many others.
Since I found stolen funds about five years ago, he has caused me and my family nothing but misery.
The financial toll is one thing, but the emotional anguish my wife and I had to face to obtain justice pushed us to the breaking point.
I have often said that I considered Titus to be a member of my family. I had complete faith in him.
Sebastian told the court that he regarded Day to be his “brother” and “family” until he discovered that the crooked manager had been covertly draining his assets.
I felt he possessed high moral standards and was a generous person, and I had faith in him. Otherwise, I would have never opted to place my career in his hands in 2009, when I took a leap of faith to join him in his new firm.
Despite the passage of time and the exceptionally intimate work and personal connection, cracks began to develop in this understanding. However, what I discovered when our relationship finally disintegrated was beyond surprising to me.
Each time I inquired about missing funds, I was confronted with threats and falsehoods. I was advised that if I pursued this, my family and reputation would be destroyed.
Media outlets disseminated fabricated tales. He told the media that I owe him hundreds of thousands of dollars, that I cut his tires, threatened him, forced him to sell his home, branded him a paedophile, and verbally assaulted his employees to the point that they had to leave his job.
Each assertion is completely unfounded.
Seeking justice for the theft of this money was always going to be public and challenging. What the jury and Your Honor have observed is radically different from what Titus has told his circle of friends.
Sebastian (above) stated that Day’s conduct and the trial had wreaked havoc on his music career, with the stolen monies restricting his expansion options.
He has extensive experience in the music and law industries. Many influential individuals have been given his version of events without seeing any proof, and this has propagated across the business in which I work, causing me enormous harm because it has been viewed that I am at blame and he is the victim.
Important to my career individuals have a significant effect on my professional development.
There is a common notion among those who are unaware of the events I have observed and discovered. The jury and Your Honor have viewed a variety of evidence, including emails, evidence from bookkeepers, bank statements, specifics of transactions and the description attributed to each, his account balance when these crimes happened, etc.
The jury was responsible for the guilty convictions, which they rendered after reviewing the evidence. Titus Day’s culpability can only be accurately assessed by those who are able to read this proof.
I was by far Titus’s largest source of income, as evidenced by the bank statements provided to the court. He was using my money to bail himself out of these terrible mistakes that had put him in a financial hole.
Titus filed a secret AVO against me, which was evident to Your Honor and the jury. There was evidence regarding the date of this.
Day (above) was sentenced to four years in prison and forced to pay $624,675 to Sebastian on November 17 after a jury found him guilty of embezzlement.
After discovering the misappropriated royalties from Premier Muzik and bringing this to Titus’s notice, I submitted the application. Your Honor has heard my testimony about the claims made in this application.
These highly publicized charges had a profound effect on me and my family, but primarily on the vital work our nonprofit foundation, The Sebastian Foundation, was doing in the domestic abuse sector.
Clearly, any association with an anticipated violence order would inflict harm.
Concerned partners contacted us with questions and concerns regarding their connection with our Foundation.
My firm relies heavily on media interviews, and I was compelled to cancel a number of them until the air was cleared to avoid being challenged on these bogus charges.
The influence of Titus’ crafty tactics to conceal his lying has also affected the nice individuals in my vicinity.
The impact of this persistent lying on my capacity to trust others around me is significant for me. The extent to which a man I considered a brother lied has forever altered my perspective on certain situations and my capacity to believe in the inherent goodness of others.
Sebastian stated that since the troubles with Day began, his wife Jules ‘constantly reminds me not to spiral’ into mistrustful ideas.
Having someone so close to me and my family be so deceitful has completely blown my belief system out from beneath me.
The psychological impact of my struggle for justice has pushed me to the brink of despair. To cope with the broken trust, lies, betrayal, and financial loss, I have sought treatment.
This process has brought me to the lowest depths of my life, and the events that have unfolded have left me in amazement.
Titus’s conduct upon the discovery of the theft had the most influence on me. I believed that fighting this was futile up to the jury’s verdict.
I am not the person I once was. I wish I could still perceive the world in the same manner, but I have to remind myself daily that not everyone is able to do so.
I have fought with anger and bitterness, and I am nothing near being cured.
My wife is aware that I am unique. She continually reminds me not to spiral in instances where I mistakenly believe someone is attacking me or taking advantage of me.
Sebastian stated that his team was frequently left with insufficient funds for performances, preventing him from pursuing worldwide stardom while Day stole from him (pictured, Sebastian performing)
I fight not to place the majority of my business contacts in the Titus basket.
I wish this weren’t the case, and I’m certain it will improve with time, but I can’t seem to break out of this train of thought.
I have to continuously tell myself that I must do the right thing and fight for justice, regardless of how difficult Titus is making it.
I could not believe the amount of money Titus stole from me. Constantly away from my family, I worked myself to the bone. I was exhausted on several times.
I was doing tour after tour and performance after gig, only to be informed that I was losing money on these tours, requiring me to balance and manage cashflow.
The discovery that Titus was spending this money for his personal benefit, in addition to the 20% of my salary to which he was legally entitled, was a blow to the chest.
It lasted so long that I feel dumb for having believed this man. The extent to which he has attempted to conceal this is astounding.
He squandered my hard-earned money for his own profit alone.
Titus was embezzling my money as we were attempting to collect any remaining funds from my account to pay band members, tour expenses, etc., causing a massive ripple effect.
Sebastian (left with wife Jules) said in his victim impact statement, “I feel silly to have trusted this man” after discovering Day had stolen from him methodically throughout his career.
I had to reduce tour budgets since I was so accustomed to losing money.
This limited my ability to hire as many band/crew members. I was forced to reduce production and make other compromises that eventually harmed the shows.
If the proper funds had been sent, I would have been able to invest more in my travels and profession.
It is horrible that my boss betrayed me and overworked me in order to steal my wages for his personal benefit. It is awful that he was a close family friend and socially interacted with my family for years, knowing what he was doing.
I cannot conceive of doing that to a friend, let alone a brother.
Your Honor is aware of the guilty verdicts concerning foreign royalties. This has a significant influence on my company’s international expansion prospects.
Without this money, I chose not to devote further time to outside countries.
This is because the danger was too great in comparison to the benefit.
If this revenue had not been embezzled, I would have been considerably more motivated to promote these marketplaces.
Day was sentenced to four years in prison but will be available for release on May 16, 2025, two and a half years later.
I have paid tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and other expenditures to defend this.
Titus has not displayed remorse. He has not attempted to repay a single dime, even when his defense was “It was an oversight.”
To find him guilty, he has forced so many people, including myself, my wife, my employee, numerous other witnesses, a jury, and the entire legal system, through a torturous procedure.
Your Honor has determined that this was not a one-time error made during a period of low funds. This was a decades-long pattern of criminally taking advantage.
The jury’s verdict meant so lot to me. Knowing that they sat through two months of an extremely difficult and complicated trial, took their time, and scrutinized the minutiae was a vindication.
Titus Day was found guilty of 34 counts of embezzlement based on all of the evidence presented during his trial.
I believe that any judgment doubting the validity of their choice is not only insulting to them, but also to the arduous process we all through.
Your Honour, Titus Day has exhibited no remorse and has made no effort to make amends. He is a legal expert and longtime manager who exploited his position of trust.
This man has subjected myself, my family, and those around me to hell, and he deserves a punishment commensurate with his crimes.