Football fans in Louisiana might be interested to learn about charges that were recently filed against former New York Giants cornerback Will Allen. On April 6, a Boston federal court revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission had filed a complaint against Allen. Federal regulators believe that Allen and a co-defendant used fraud to operate a Ponzi scheme between July 2012 and February 2015.
In a statement, the head of the SEC’s regional office in Boston claimed that Allen and his co-defendant took money from investors and claimed that the money was being lent to pro athletes. The operation was allegedly built on a false idea of a successful investment that would result in a profitable return. However, $7 million of the investors’ money was allegedly used to make payments to other investors.
Allen and his co-defendant are accused of taking over $31 million from investors. The SEC claims that the two defendants told investors that they would earn up to 18 percent interest through their investments. Rather than investing in the loans as they had promised, the defendants are accused of using a portion of investors’ money to cover nightclub and casino bills.
A person who is facing these kinds of accusations from federal regulators might want to speak to an attorney. An attorney may be able to represent a person accused of white collar crimes once they are aware that they are being investigated and after charges have been filed against them. To mitigate the charges, an attorney may argue that an alleged Ponzi scheme was actually a legitimate business that was unsuccessful.
Source: InvestmentNews, “Ex-NFL cornerback Will Allen accused of running Ponzi scheme,” April 7, 2015