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The former Warriors star, and 11-round Kiwi, was sitting in the Penrith branch of Westpac Bank, when the cold and incredible reality began to dawn.
Accompanied by his wife, they looked again at the computer screen that showed the transactions of their personal account.
“I still didn’t believe it,” Taylor told the Herald of New Zealand. “How could it be possible? How could someone do this? Someone who was like my father. I trusted him so much. I trusted him more than anyone in my life.”
The banker presented forms that go back, year after year, with all kinds of strange transactions.
“When you see trips to Fiji on your bank statement, you think … ‘what? I’ve never been to Fiji,'” Taylor said.
Last month, a court found that Taylor’s manager, Christchurch-based Ian Miles, had misappropriated nearly $ 400,000 from the Warriors, Panthers and Tigers, over a four-year period, which Miles still denies.
The evidence showed that the money was wasted on vacations abroad, gifts for his wife, motorcycles, luxury hotels, restaurants, clothing and furniture.
What made matters worse was that their partnership went far beyond the typical manager-athlete relationship. Miles had been Taylor’s mentor since he was a teenager.
“He even came on our honeymoon,” says Taylor. “We were so close. I trusted him more than anyone, built from a long relationship.
“I never grew up much. I was not educated in any of this. Many players see their coach as a father figure because there is no one [else] they may come for financial advice. I trusted Ian for that. He had worked with Olympians, many athletes. I thought it was a no-brainer. “
Taylor met Miles on the Warriors when they hired him to do mental skills training.
“Ian always gives me his opinion and advice,” says Taylor. “He was very kind and I felt like he really cared about helping me.”
After leading the Warriors to the U-20 premiership in 2010, Taylor graduated from the NRL team, scoring a try in the 2011 grand final against Manly.
During that season, Taylor turned down a substantial new contract, against the advice of his (then) agent Stan Martin and his father, as Miles convinced him that he was worth more.
The couple had discussed that Miles would become a reputable player agent, and in late 2011, Taylor formally parted ways with Martin, via an email from Miles.
“I liked Stan and I thought he had done a good job for me, but I was totally listening to Ian at this stage,” says Taylor.
Taylor signed an athlete and management contract with Miles, as well as a standard NRL management contract.
Taylor’s career was on the rise; he had traveled with the Kiwis and was a regular with the Warriors. In April 2012, Miles suggested that Taylor open two BNZ bank accounts, and the manager had access to both. The business account would be used to pay for expenses Miles incurred on behalf of his customer.
“I assumed this was normal for players and agents. Now I know it is not,” Taylor said.
Miles’s profound influence on Taylor was highlighted when his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2012. The disease was aggressive, and Ron Taylor was short on time in August.
While the family held a bedside vigil at the hospital, Taylor was to fly to Townsville for a Warriors game, then join Miles in Sydney for a meeting with Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.
“Simon [Mannering] told me not to go [coach] Bluey McClennan, [chief executive] Wayne Scurrah said “stay home”. My family didn’t want me to go, “Taylor said.” Doctors said he only had another 24 to 48 hours. I knew if I flew to Townsville, I would never see Dad alive again. “
Taylor didn’t want to make the trip, but eventually relented.
“Ian insisted that he should, saying that’s what Charles Upham would have done,” Taylor said. “I followed Ian’s advice on everyone.”
His father died while Taylor was on his way to Townsville.
In March 2013, Taylor agreed to a lucrative three-year deal with Penrith, negotiated by Miles.
Six months later, Taylor met Miles at Westpac Bank in Penrith, prior to his relocation. Personal and business accounts were opened, and Miles had full access. Miles also got a duplicate Earth Black credit card, with the same number he gave Taylor.
“Everything was ready for me to sign,” Taylor said. “Ian just said, sign this one, sign the other one. I gave him access so he could manage future investments.”
Around that time, Taylor received $ 19,000 for the Kiwi World Cup campaign. According to court documents, Miles agreed to put it in time deposit for Taylor, but instead spent $ 8,000 on a motorcycle and transferred another $ 6,000 for himself.
Once they moved to Sydney, the Taylors agreed to a strict monthly budget as they saved for a house. They stood firm, but there was friction. During his frequent recoveries, Miles allegedly continued to warn Taylor about the wrong spending on his wife’s credit card, allegedly up to $ 6,000 or $ 7,000 a month. His wife insisted that he wasn’t spending any of it.
“I opposed the accusations,” Poko Matapo-Taylor said. “I was going to return to Rarotonga.”
At the beginning of the 2016 season, Taylor went from the Panthers to the Tigers. When Taylor signed the contract, which was a significant downgrade, Miles was on vacation in Fiji, paid for with the Earth Black credit card.
In late 2016, Taylor’s wife became increasingly suspicious and managed to redirect bank statements from Christchurch to Sydney. There was some evidence that Miles was transferring money, although Taylor wasn’t convinced.
“I basically ignored what Poko was telling me,” Taylor said. “I didn’t even think I was doing anything suspicious. I just assumed that wherever I put the money, it would be to my benefit.”
But the harsh reality came in force on December 27, 2016. At his wife’s insistence, the Taylors met with their personal banker at Westpac. Over the course of five hours, they began to realize the extent of Miles’s misappropriation.
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading,” Taylor said. “All payments to” The Zone ” [Miles’ company] and all the Earth Black credit card transactions he knew Poko hadn’t made. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost. “
There were 937 unauthorized transactions through Westpac accounts, totaling more than A $ 340,000 (US $ 360,000) in holidays, expensive jewelry, gifts, luxury hotels and motorcycles. According to court documents, the funds were also transferred to Miles’s wife and used to pay a mortgage on a property owned by a trust.
Miles was excluded from the accounts.
“He texted me right away, saying ‘have you closed the cards?'” Remembers Taylor. “I didn’t respond and never heard from him again, after texting him almost every day, talking to him every other day for the past six years. That was the most revealing.”
The Taylors considered the police charges but dropped the idea after Miles, through his attorneys, agreed to meet in Christchurch in April 2017.
“His lawyers said both contracts he signed with Ian are valid, plus he was entitled to 50 percent of all travel expenses,” said Taylor, who sat in disbelief as Miles denied wrongdoing. “It was all over in 20 minutes.”
That meeting came during a harrowing time for the Taylors, as their daughter was in the hospital for fifteen days with a life-threatening illness.
There were numerous delays over the next several years, as Miles cited various health issues. He rejected the offer to return the money in small installments and the suggestion of mediation.
The decision to hire a lawyer, after first insisting that he would defend himself, led to another lengthy delay.
The case was finally heard on November 12.
Miles had filed for bankruptcy two weeks earlier and did not defend the case.
In the New Zealand High Court, Judge Jan-Marie Doogue found that Miles violated his NRL contract with Taylor in many ways.
She said Miles would have been entitled to around $ 60,000 for his services, not much less than the amount taken, but the numerous breaches meant the contract was declared null and void anyway.
She determined that Miles had used undue influence to reach an unconscionable agreement and had abused Taylor’s trust “time and time again”, also trying to turn Taylor against his wife.
In addition to $ 25,000 in general damages and court costs of $ 28,750, the sums of A $ 340,112 and $ 17,909 were also awarded to the plaintiff, although Taylor has little hope of receiving the money.
“You look at the amount owed to you and you don’t get a penny,” says Taylor. “Someone takes this amount of money and can just walk away.
“That doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t seem like justice.
“I don’t want this to happen to any other kid in New Zealand who falls into this trap.
“You can’t think about it too much because it depresses you.”
Miles provided a statement when contacted by the Herald. Despite the overwhelming evidence, he still denies Taylor’s embezzlement. Miles said he has suffered from various health problems over the past four years and is now in therapy. Miles claimed he abandoned his defense on the advice of two doctors and a therapist.
Taylor, who has played 186 NRL games, admits a weight has been lifted, relieved that he has been proven right.
“It wasn’t so much anger, it was more disbelief,” says Taylor. “I felt disappointed, used, discouraged after you trusted someone so much. As soon as my dad died, I always turned to him.
“It has made me not trust people.
“It makes me skeptical about almost everything.”
