Australian music icon Guy Sebastian has revealed how convicted embezzler Titus Day ‘pushed him to the edge’ and left him needing therapy.
Day was sentenced to at least two-and-a-half years in jail last week after he was found guilty of stealing more than $600,000 from Sebastian while working as his manager.
In a gut-wrenching victim impact statement, Sebastian revealed that he’s ‘not the same person’ since realising his friend had stolen from him.
The court previously heard Sebastian ‘took a leap of faith’ by following Day from his former employer to his management company back in 2009.
He said the pair were extremely close with Sebastian adding that he considered Day a ‘brother’.
Guy Sebastian (left) said the trial against his former manager, Titus Day, has been ‘mental torture’ for him and his wife, Jules (right)
Titus Day (above) will serve a minimum of two-and-a-half years in jail on 34 counts related to the embezzlement of more than $600,000 from his former client, Guy Sebastian
In his statement, he says he’s started visiting a therapist after Day broke his trust.
He added that his former manager’s attempts to ‘cover his deceit’ have hurt him more than the actual embezzlement.
‘Uncovering the depth of the lies from a man I considered as a brother has forever changed my outlook in certain situations and my ability to trust in the innate goodness of people,’ he wrote.
‘Having someone so close to me and my family be so treacherous has literally pulled the rug out from under the belief system I had held up until that point in my life.
‘The mental torture that we have had to endure to achieve justice, pushed me and my wife to the edge.’
Sebastian also touched on how the stolen funds stopped him from furthering career.
He wrote: ‘I was doing tour after tour, gig after gig and then being told I wasn’t making money on these tours and having to juggle and manage cashflow.
Sebastian (pictured with his wife, Jules) said he is ‘not the same person’ since learning of Day’s ‘deceit’
‘To find out that Titus was taking this money – on top of the 20 per cent of my income that he had a legitimate claim to – and then using it for his own gain was a stab in the heart.’
Day was sentenced to a maximum four years in prison by Judge Tim Gartelmann at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.
Judge Gartelmann said the offences ‘all were committed for financial gain’ but it could not be established beyond reasonable doubt that 49-year-old Day was motivated by greed.
‘There is no evidence of remorse as the offender maintains his innocence – nor is there any evidence regarding prospects of rehabilitation,’ Judge Gartelmann said.
He has been ordered to pay Sebastian $624,675 from 34 offences.
Publicity surrounding the case and the destruction of Day’s reputation had left him ‘devastated’ and it was unlikely he could ever recover professionally.
The court case pitted two men who were once extremely close against each other and dragged in their wives, who had also been friends.
The brutal split between Sebastian and Day also rocked the entertainment industry.
Judge Gartelmann said character witnesses had universally described Day as generous, honest and trustworthy. All considered his offending out of character.
Singer Tina Arena was among those who provided a reference for Day, describing him as ‘someone she trusts’ and a man with ‘honesty and integrity’.
READ GUY SEBASTIAN’S LETTER TO THE JUDGE THAT WAS TENDERED IN COURT
Your Honour, it’s difficult to sum up the impact that Titus Day’s crimes have had. Obviously, I’ve personally been traumatised by this ordeal, but it has impacted so many others beyond myself.
From the time I discovered missing money almost five years ago, what he has put me and my family through has been horrific.
The financial toll is one thing, but the mental torture that we have had to endure to achieve justice, pushed me and my wife to the edge.
I have said time and again that I perceived Titus to be a part of my family. I trusted him implicitly.
Sebastian told the court he considered Day a ‘brother’ and ‘family’ before learning the crook manager had secretly been draining his funds
I believed him to be of good character, an upstanding and charitable citizen, and I believed in him. Otherwise I never would have chosen to put my career in his hands when I took a leap of faith with him to his new business in 2009.
Over time and an extremely close relationship that was both business and personal, there were cracks that began to appear in this understanding. However, what was uncovered when our relationship really fell apart was more than shocking for me.
Every time I was seeking answers to missing monies I was met with threats and lies. I was told if I pursue this that my reputation would be ruined, my family would be ruined.
Fabricated stories were released to the media. He went to journalists with claims that I owe him hundreds of thousands of dollars, that I have slashed his tyres, threatened him, forced him to sell his home, called him a paedophile and that I verbally abused his staff members to the point that they needed to leave his employment.
Each claim is 100 per cent without basis.
Seeking justice for this money stolen from me was always going to be public and difficult. What the jury and Your Honour has seen is vastly different to the version of events that Titus has told people in his circle.
Sebastian (above) said both Day’s actions and the trial had taken a massive toll on his music career, with the stolen funds limiting his growth opportunities
He has operated in the music and legal industry for a long time. There are many powerful people that are being told his version of events without seeing any of the evidence and this has been spread throughout the industry I work in and has caused me great harm because it has been perceived as though I am the one at fault and he is the victim.
The impact on me professionally amongst people that are important to my career is huge.
There is a general perception from people who are not aware of the things that I have witnessed and uncovered. The jury and Your Honour has seen evidence ranging from emails, evidence from bookkeepers, bank statements, details of transfers and the description assigned to each one, the balance of his accounts when these crimes occurred etc.
The jury were the ones who gave the guilty verdicts and they did so after scrutinising this evidence. Only those who are able to view this evidence can truly have an opinion on the guilt of Titus Day.
I was by far Titus’s biggest source of income and Your Honour has seen this reflected in all the bank statements. He was using my money to bail himself out of these poor decisions which caused him to be backed into a corner financially.
Your Honour and the jury saw evidence of Titus taking out a private AVO against me. Evidence was provided about the timing of this.
Day (above) was handed down a four-year jail sentence on November 17 and ordered to pay Sebastian $624,675 after a jury found him guilty of embezzlement
The application was filed after I discovered the stolen royalties from Premier Muzik and bought this to Titus’s attention. Your Honour heard my evidence with regards to the claims on this application.
Those very public allegations had a huge impact on me and my family, but mostly to the important work our charitable foundation, The Sebastian Foundation, was doing in the domestic violence space.
Obviously any affiliation with an apprehended violence order is going to cause damage. We had to field calls and concerns from partners who became unsettled about their involvement with our Foundation.
Media interviews are a big part of my business and I was forced to cancel many interviews until the air was cleared to avoid being pressed on these false accusations.
The impact of Titus’ cunning actions taken to cover his deceit has also had an impact on good people around me.
For me personally, the impact of this sustained deception on my ability to feel like I can trust people around me. Uncovering the depth of the lies from a man I considered as a brother has forever changed my outlook in certain situations and my ability to trust in the innate goodness of people.
Sebastian said his wife Jules (pictured together) ‘is constantly reminding me to not spiral’ into beliefs of mistrust since the problems with Day began
Having someone so close to me and my family be so treacherous has literally pulled the rug out from under the belief system I had held up until that point in my life.
The psychological impact of this fight for justice has driven me to the point of complete depression. I have sought therapy to deal with the broken trust, the deception, betrayal and financial loss.
I have been at the darkest points in my life during this process and things that have transpired have left me in disbelief.
It was the actions that were taken by Titus after the embezzlement was discovered that impacted me the most. I felt like fighting this was useless all the way up to the jury’s verdict.
I am not the same person I was. I wish I could still view the world the same way but every day I fight through negative thoughts and I have to remind myself that not everyone is capable of doing this.
I have struggled through anger and resentment and I’m not even close to being healed yet.
My wife knows I’m different. She is constantly reminding me to not spiral in situations where I feel someone is attacking me or taking advantage of me when they are not.
Sebastian said his team was often left scraping cash together for shows which left him unable to pursue international fame while Day was stealing from him (pictured, Sebastian performing)
I struggle to not put most people I do business with in the Titus basket.
I wish this wasn’t the case and I’m sure it will heal in time but right now I can’t seem to break out of this thought pattern.
I had to constantly remind myself that as painful as Titus is making this, I have to do the right thing and fight for justice.
I couldn’t believe how much money Titus actually took from me. I was working to the bone, constantly away from my family. I was burnt out on so many occasions.
I was doing tour after tour, gig after gig and then being told I wasn’t making money on these tours and having to juggle and manage cashflow.
To find out that Titus was taking this money – on top of the 20 per cent of my income that he had a legitimate claim to – and then using it for his own gain was a stab in the heart.
It went on for so long, I feel foolish to have trusted this man. The level he has gone to to try and cover this up is astonishing.
He gambled my hard earned money away only for his benefit.
While we were trying to gather any monies left in my account to pay band members, tour costs, etc, Titus was embezzling my money which had a huge ripple effect.
Sebastian (pictured with wife Jules) wrote in his victim impact statement: ‘I feel foolish to have trusted this man’ after learning Day had systematically stolen from his throughout his career
I would have to cut budgets on tours because I was so used to not making a profit.
This meant I couldn’t employ as many band/crew members. I had to cut down on production and make other sacrifices which ultimately hurt the shows themselves.
If the correct monies were paid through I would have been able to invest more into my tours and my career.
For my manager to betray me and work me to the bone so that he could embezzle my earnings for his own gain is deplorable. For him to be a close family friend and socially interact with my family for years knowing what he was doing can only be described as evil.
I can’t imagine doing that to someone I call a friend, much less a brother.
Your Honour is aware of the guilty verdicts with regards to overseas royalties. The impact of this on my business with regards to overseas plans was huge.
Without this income, I made decisions not to invest more time into overseas territories. This is due to the fact that it was too much of a risk with little reward.
If this income wasn’t embezzled, it would have given me much more incentive to push those markets.
Day (above) was sentenced to four years in jail but will be eligible for parole in two-and-a-half years on May 16, 2025
I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and related costs trying to fight this.
Titus has shown no remorse. He has not tried to pay one cent back, even where the defence was, ‘It was an oversight’.
He has put so many people including myself, my wife, my employee, several other witnesses, a jury, the whole justice system through a painful process to find him guilty.
Your Honour has seen that this wasn’t a one-off mistake at a time when finances were tight. This was a habit of criminally taking advantage over years and years.
What the jury decided meant so much to me. It was a vindication to know that they sat through two months of a very challenging and confusing trial, took their time and scrutinised the details.
Their decision was that Titus Day is guilty of 34 counts of embezzlement based on all the evidence presented at the trial.
Any commentary regarding the validity of their decision in my opinion is not only disrespectful to them, but to the painstaking process we all went through.
Your Honour, Titus Day has shown no remorse, he has made no attempt at reparation. He is a legal professional, a manager who abused his position of trust for many years.
This man has put me, my family and those around me, through hell and deserves a sentence that reflects his crimes.
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