By Wayne Flower, Melbourne Correspondent
06:38 20 Jun 2024, updated 06:38 20 Jun 2024
A cricketer accused of stealing $64,541 from a GoFundMe organised to raise money for the grieving family of alleged murder victim Hannah McGuire has appeared in court.
Lachlan Morganti, 26, appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged with theft after he allegedly stole from a GoFundMe he had organised on behalf of the Clunes Cricket Club.
The matter was adjourned until July 1 to allow Morganti’s lawyer to obtain the brief of evidence from detectives.
Morganti, who played A Grade cricket for the town in Victoria, sat quietly behind his lawyer during the brief hearing.
Morganti remains free in the community on bail.
Ms McGuire’s mother Debbie McGuire waited online for hours to watch the short hearing.
The cruel blow came just two months after Ms McGuire, 23, was allegedly murdered by her ex-partner, 21-year-old Lachlan Young.
Donors were encouraged to lodge a claim with GoFundMe to get their money back with Ms Hill sharing the couples’ bank details for people to make direct donations.
The fundraiser has since been taken down with a GoFundMe spokesman confirming they were aware of the ‘alleged misuse of funds’.
‘The GoFundMe Trust and Safety team is aware of this alleged misuse of funds, and will work with authorities and all parties to reach a resolution,’ he said.
Ms McGuire’s body was discovered in a burnt-out car near State Forest Road, close to Scarsdale, south-west of Ballarat in Victoria on April 5.
It remains unknown how or why Young is alleged to have murdered Ms McGuire. He will be kept behind bars until his next court date in September.
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Ms McGuire had bought a house with Young just short of a year before he is alleged to have murdered her.
She was pictured smiling from ear-to-ear next to a large ‘sold’ sign alongside her then-partner outside the home in Sebastopol, near Ballarat in regional Victoria.
The snapshot of happiness was taken almost a year to the day before Young appeared in court to face charges of murdering Ms McGuire.
She had lived with Young up until a week before she was allegedly murdered.
Her death had initially been dismissed as a suicide but a coroner’s report indicated she had allegedly sustained deadly injuries before the car was engulfed in flames.
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