Ever heard of Luther Davis? No? He owns a Nationwide Championship ring from 2009 when he was a defensive lineman with the College of Alabama beneath head coach Nick Saban.
What does this need to do with the Cleveland Browns? Davis was not too long ago arrested on an elaborately conceived scheme to defraud practically $20 million in loans by impersonating a number of NFL gamers, considered one of whom was former Browns TE David Njoku.
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The scheme was very intelligent. And for whereas, it succeeded.
Prosecutors alleged that Davis impersonated three NFL gamers from Might of 2023 to October of 2024 and secured loans from just a few lending businesses who thought they had been coping with a well-known and rich NFL participant. As an alternative, it was Davis in disguise.
David Njoku Getty Photos
Davis did have a wingman on this scheme, C.J. Evins, who’s listed because the proprietor of Deed Chasers, LLC. Each Davis and Evins created life like Secretary of State paperwork, fabricated private monetary statements, plus financial institution statements for corporations that gave the impression to be operated by the NFL gamers. The duo even registered official-looking corporations much like the names of the gamers to help their scheme.
A member of the 2010 Nationwide Champs, Alabama, Davis was a defensive sort out who performed in all 4 years that he was in class. He was a four-star prospect from West Monroe, La., whom rivals.com thought of to be the Fifteenth-best defensive sort out within the nation. He had loads of school presents after which dedicated to LSU. Two weeks later, newly-hired Alabama head coach Nick Saban visited his residence, and Davis flipped commitments and was a part of Saban’s first signing class with the Crimson Tide.
The scheme labored like this.
Davis would present up at mortgage closings through video convention as the required NFL participant. He wore wigs to imitate particular gamers and make-up in an effort to lighten or darken his pores and skin tone. The faux driver’s licenses had been offered together with different documentation. The license digits had been truly an actual Georgia driver’s license quantity, however for a girl in Savannah, Georgia, as a substitute of Njoku.
Dec 5, 2009; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Luther Davis
He closed on a $4 million promissory be aware with Aliya Sports activities Finance, a fund that lends to athletes, and underwriter Certain Sports activities, in January of 2024. That mortgage was earmarked for Njoku.
Certain Sports activities additionally put collectively a bundle together with All-Professional Capital Funding, which loaned Davis $4.4 million in April of 2024, pondering he was McKinney on a video convention. One other mortgage was secured with faux paperwork, and once more, by video convention, Davis impersonated Penix and secured a $3.3 million promissory be aware from All-Professional Capital in July of 2024. Davis was carrying what was described as a “durag-style head covering” and offered a faux Florida driver’s license that was later recognized as utilizing a inventory photograph of Penix from one of many on-line picture websites.
Aside from by having their identities stolen by Davis and Evins, the NFL gamers weren’t related in any technique to the alleged scheme.
How they acquired caught was by the mortgage to Njoku.
Each Davis and Evins entered pleas of not responsible at their arraignments.
On April 27, Davis pled responsible to defrauding traders out of thousands and thousands of {dollars} from a courtroom in Atlanta. He entered responsible pleas in federal courtroom to at least one rely of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one rely of aggravated id theft.
Evins pled responsible to the identical two prices.
Sentencing for each males will happen in August. Every faces seven years in jail, although prosecutors labored out a plea deal and can advocate a decrease sentence. The rationale prosecutors provide plea offers is that their case load is big and at all times behind, so the extra instances they will get off their workload, this helps everybody within the judicial system. Plus, the prosecutor now not has to prep for a trial.
No phrase but on the place the $20 million they acquired is presently situated.
