JAKE Melksham has been fined $10,000 for misleading AFL investigators during an inquiry into activity on his betting account.
The League said the activity didn't relate to any bets placed on AFL matches, but came to its attention because it appeared the Melbourne midfielder had allowed his account to be used by a someone else.
The former Bomber was serving a doping suspension from his time at Essendon when the incident occurred in June last year.
He has been fined under Rule 2.5(c) of the AFL rules, which says a person must not "give any false or misleading evidence to any hearing, investigation, inquiry or appeal conducted under the AFL rules and regulations".
The League said Melksham provided misleading evidence when interviewed by investigators in the course of their probe.
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty and has agreed to assist the AFL in education programs for other players in the future.
"It is crucial for the integrity of the competition that participants in the AFL give honest evidence in the course of investigations under the AFL rules," AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said in a statement on Thursday.
"Jake has acknowledged his mistake in this case, is genuinely remorseful and will assist us to deliver this message in the future to players coming into the AFL competition."
Melbourne football manager Josh Mahoney said, "Although Jake has been cleared of any wrongdoing relating to the betting activity from June last year, his mistake was not presenting all the information to the AFL investigators at the time of initial contact.
"He accepts his sanction on that front," Mahoney said.
"All players and staff, when asked to be involved in an AFL investigation, must take them seriously and provide all the information when required.
"Jake is genuinely remorseful about his mistake and as a club we will continue to support and educate all our players on the importance of these matters."
Melksham finally made his Melbourne debut in round one and has played in all four Demons games so far this season.
