Former Australian football star David Dench has pleaded not guilty to a charge of obtaining property by deception as part of a case in which a university was defrauded of $10 million.

Dench, 55, of Essendon, will face a total of 31 charges, including furnishing false documents, as the latest of 20 people to appear in court over an alleged conspiracy in which Victoria University was defrauded of the $10 million.

Dench, who played 275 VFL games for North Melbourne and captained the club to the 1977 premiership, appeared before Judge Tim Wood in the County Court during legal argument on Monday.

He told Judge Wood he pleaded not guilty to the one charge of obtaining property by deception and indicated he would plead not guilty to 30 other charges when a jury is empanelled.

Police alleged the fraud involved former university staff and contractors, invoicing the university for millions of dollars of work, such as maintenance, that was never carried out.

They alleged that Dench's maintenance company invoiced the university, which has 11 campuses across Melbourne, for $4.7 million of maintenance work which was not done between 1996 and 2001.

The court heard that fictitious invoices were made out for work that was neither requested nor undertaken.

Legal argument will continue on Tuesday.

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