Dermott Brereton claims partners in panel beating business ripped him off Dermott Brereton has launched legal action against two business partners. FOOTY legend Dermott Brereton has launched legal action against two business partners he says ripped him off for millions of dollars. The former Hawthorn great, who is a director of a South Melbourne-based panel beating business, has launched action against co-directors Desmond Smith and Neil Wrigley. He claims the pair used his profile as a star AFL player to build their business, Melbourne Panel Repairs, but then failed to share the profits fairly. Brereton has alleged in court documents that while he earned just $575,000 in dividends between 2003 and 2012, his co-directors took home almost $2.5 million each. In a sworn affidavit filed with the court Brereton claims Mr Smith and Mr Wrigley paid the dividends at differing rates without his approval. Brereton also alleges that in the days before Christmas last year Mr Smith and Mr Wrigley paid themselves $100,000 from the business's funds without consulting him. The documents reveal Brereton and Mr Smith became co-directors of the business in November 1992. Mr Wrigley was appointed as a director three years later. "When MPR commenced operating as a business, Smith, Wrigley and I agreed that we would be equal shareholders in the company," Brereton said in his sworn affidavit. This was on the basis that we all brought different but equally important contributions to the table in respect of building the profile of the business and getting clients in. As a VFL/AFL footballer, I was able to attract significant business to MPR in the early-mid 1990s and beyond. Brereton said he had been fighting since October 2011 to ascertain why dividends had been paid to the co-directors at differing rates. He also claims he has been denied full access to the financial records of MPR.