Earlier this month, NRL star and Wests Tigers player Tim Simona was degregistered from the professional sport amid a scandal that involved drugs, gambling and charity fraud.
After being found guilty of placing bets on NRL games and allegedly selling signed jerseys for charity but keeping the money for himself, Simona’s career is all but over.
Today, the woman at the centre of the scandal – Simona’s ex partner – will speak to Nine News about her role in the saga that made headlines and saw his career spiral out of control.
In an interview that will air on Nine News on Sunday night, Jaya Taki explains why she decided to expose her former partner’s antics publicly, saying an abortion was at the core of the relationship breakdown.
In a lengthy and detailed email sent to Fairfax, Ms Taki says Simona went out partying on the weekend after she had the abortion and tried to pick up one of her friends.
“He [Simona] said, ‘having this child would ruin my life … I won’t be there to support the child’,” Ms Taki said. “What choice did I have? If I have this kid he is going to hate me.
“What got me really angry is that I had an abortion on the Friday and on the Saturday he was out clubbing. I said I sacrificed my child for you and you are out partying.”
Ms Taki added that although the public consider her “scornful” she believes she made “a decent sacrifice for him”.
She revealed she felt threatened in the relationship and because of this made the decision at the end of last year to hand over her phone to the NRL that carried proof of Simona's gambling.
"I won't sit here and be labelled some jealous ex-lover because it suits a stereotype. I stood up for myself against the abuse he put me through. I ended a bitter and toxic relationship by coming forward because I guarantee if I didn't, we would still be doing it.'
In addition to placing bets on other NRL matches in a desperate grab for cash, Simona confessed to auctioning off at least 12 jerseys and keeping the money. He was assisted by Ms. Taki, whose text messages show she was complicit in him raising funds for a foundation in memory of her dead brother.
