The latest chapter of Simona's sad tale began on Wednesday when he was arrested by police in Macquarie Fields and charged with obtaining benefit by deception.

The 25-year-old will face claims of ripping off two charities, Camp Quality and the Sharlz Taki Foundation, by withholding money raised through his online auctions of signed jerseys.

The Samoan international has moved to provide reimbursement to the charities by sending a $5000 cheque to Camp Quality's headquarters at Epping. But the NSW Police Organised Crime Squad swooped after evidence of Simona's alleged charity rort was uncovered during an NRL integrity unit investigation.

A police spokesman said: "A 25-year-old man was arrested in Macquarie Fields on Wednesday morning, charged with obtain benefit by deception. He was granted bail and due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on 18 April."

Simona this month confessed to the charity scam, while also admitting to gambling and drug problems. It is claimed that he would take Tigers jumpers to the club's base at Concord Oval and leave them outside the dressing room for players to sign before placing them for auction on social media.

"I'm so ashamed of what I've done," Simona told News Ltd. "It shows how low you'll go to get money. One jersey turned into five jerseys which turned into like eight, nine jerseys. There are no excuses. All I can do is give them the money when I get back on my feet."

Simona was effectively rubbed out of the game for life, principally for placing 65 bets on the NRL last season including on opposition players. But in handing down the penalty to Simona, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg made it clear that he was also dismayed at a player keeping funds that had been raised in the name of charity.

"All I can tell you is that he was putting forward opportunities to sell jerseys and putting that money to charities, and that money did not go to the charities," Greenberg said at the time.

"I personally feel sick in the stomach when I hear something like that. That's abhorrent."

???It is understood police were also probing whether Simona's former partner Jaya Taki, who runs the Sharlz Taki Foundation and who was central to the NRL's investigation, played any part in the jersey scheme. She has vehemently denied she had ever taken money from charity in an interview with Fairfax Media, saying "heat-of-the-moment fights, jokes and banter" contained in Whatsapp messages between herself and Simona "have become headline news and taken wildly out of context, including this 'scam'".

Camp Quality chief Kylea Tink confirmed last week that Simona had delivered a $5000 cheque to the charity in a bid to begin to make amends. It was unclear if that covered all of the money that he raised through online auctions but did not pass on.

"We didn't know that Tim was fundraising on our behalf so we don't have visibility on how much money was collected through that process," Tink said. "From our perspective it's a really sad thing that's happened. A player with enormous potential who has made a bad decision. It's a really timely reminder for people if they want to get involved in any charity it's really important that they work directly with the charity.

"He has voiced his very sincere regret and has kind of said he's dealing with his own demons and he's not making excuses for himself but he's keen to make amends."