- Luke Sayers is being investigated by the AFL Integrity Unit
- He has repeatedly accused hackers of sending offensive images
Carlton president Luke Sayers is the subject of an explosive investigation by the AFL after a graphic sexual image was sent from his X account to an executive connected to the club, but new images show the scandal does not appear to have overshadowed your holidays abroad
The former Price Waterhouse Coopers chief executive's account
The public post was directed to the executive's social media account, although the mother of two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Sayers on the platform.
Sayers noticed the development after the photo was online for 12 minutes, at which point he quickly deleted it and apologized to his followers, claiming he had been targeted by cybercriminals.
“Sorry, my account has been hacked, please ignore all posts,” he wrote.
Sayers told Daily Mail Australia: “This is outrageous.” “I am investigating and will spare no effort to find out who did this to me and my family.”
Luke Sayers appears with his daughters during a lavish family trip to Europe, during which he was criticized for not responding to questions about the scandal over a graphic image sent from his X account.
The Carlton president (pictured on holiday with his daughters) is now under investigation by the AFL Integrity Unit.
When news of the AFL investigation broke last Friday, the Carlton club issued a statement saying the team would co-operate with the Integrity Unit after notifying the league of the scandal.
Sayers had been criticized for delaying his statement while in Europe on a luxurious family vacation with his wife and daughters, and did not return calls from colleagues at his private company, Sayers Group, according to news corporation.
Sayers reportedly did not answer questions for a week while calls came in for him to resign from his senior role at Carlton until the matter was investigated, and it was also claimed he disconnected his phone.
Now, photos posted on social media show a seemingly carefree Sayers smiling as he enjoys the trip, which took in places including Paris, Milan and the Italian ski slopes.
He has since returned to Australia and returned to work.
The executive tagged in the hijacked post was at a Carlton Respects lunch, as part of a program run by the club to help counter violence against women, six months ago.
Sources close to the executive told Daily Mail Australia that she was distraught by the incident and “completely shocked” but had since returned to work full-time.
Sayers (pictured, above left, while skiing with his family in Italy) called the sending of the photograph “scandalous” and vowed to do everything possible to unmask the culprit.
The Blues boss (pictured with star Patrick Cripps last year) reportedly did not return calls from his co-workers after the scandal broke.
Her family is said to be furious that she has been dragged into the mess.
Leading cybercrime investigator Ken Gamble told Daily Mail Australia the key to unmasking those responsible for the graphic photograph posted on the account was quick action.
“The public often does not believe that these types of sexually explicit hacking cases are perpetrated by hackers, but these cybercrimes are on the rise and are more prevalent now than at any other time in history,” he said.
“There are specific steps that must be taken to investigate Mr Sayers' case, including the urgent discovery of otherwise private digital data traces, such as IP subscriber logs to identify the whereabouts of a computer or phone user (behind of the attack).'
The incident comes just over a month after the prominent executive figure and his Cate, who have four daughters together, sold their sprawling mansion in Melbourne's east for more than $16.5 million.