Two people armed with several false identities managed to fraudulently obtain a quarter-million-dollar loan in the name of National Football League defensive end Cam Ward. Tennessee Titansaccording to authorities.
Albert Weber, 42, and Sintrella Lash, 39, face charges of identity theft, bank fraud and forgery after their arrest in the case, which allegedly targets the 2025 first overall pick. NFL project, his father and the company that loaned the money in question, said Capt. Jason Rivard of the sheriff's office in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, near New Orleans.
Although attempts to contact Lash for comment were unsuccessful, Weber vehemently denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that the actions attributed to him were committed by someone else who falsely impersonated him.
Either way, the case shows how increasingly common fraud involving professional athletes is becoming as their endorsements and wage income grow, as evidenced by the 2021 report. report from global accounting and consulting firm EY.
Beginning in March, Weber and Lash worked together to obtain multiple loans totaling at least $250,000 on behalf of Guardwhose four-year rookie contract with the Titans is reportedly worth about $48.7 million. Investigators determined that a pair of Jefferson Parish residents used a network of false identities to convince out-of-state businesses to lend money, Rivarde said in an interview Tuesday.
Rivarde added that Weber reportedly even impersonated Ward's father, Calvin, on at least one occasion, personally signing notarized documents aimed at borrowing money.
Weber and Lash eventually came to the attention of investigators – and on May 16 they were arrested at a shopping center in the Jefferson Parish community of Harvey, where they planned to attend a meeting designed to make it easier for them to obtain loans, Rivarde said.
Both were subsequently released from custody on bail. Trial hearings for Weber and Lash were tentatively scheduled for early November and mid-December, respectively.
In an interview Tuesday, Calvin Ward described how he first received a call from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office while he was attending an event to celebrate NFL rookies and their families before his son was drafted by the Titans in April. An investigator he momentarily thought was a joke told him that someone had placed two liens on his Texas home that had been paid off in full, said Calvin Ward, a former college football player.
Calvin Ward subsequently learned that a private loan fund based in California had issued two high-interest loans to people posing as him and his son, even though they did not have Social Security numbers or driver's licenses. The lender's president apparently swelled with pride when he saw the NFL draft and believed one of his clients was the No. 1 overall pick.
The scammers also convinced the foundation's president that his son would eventually receive a signed helmet from Cam Ward, said attorney Josh Clayton, who represents the defenseman and his family.
“It's scary,” Calvin Ward said. He said his family took steps to freeze Cam Ward's credit when he finished his collegiate playing days at the University of Miami because they heard that someone who walked into a bank last year posing as an NFL rookie was able to obtain a significant loan in the athlete's name.
However, as Calvin Ward noted, nothing prepared him for the “heavy dose of how easy it is for someone to foreclose on your house without knowing it.”
Place of creditors lien on houses to be able to claim the property to pay off debts in the event of default. In the Wards' case, the lender immediately released the lien after learning it was all a ruse, Clayton said.
“My message is to be as vigilant as possible with your [finances]”,” said Calvin Ward. “There are schemers and swindlers, and they are always trying to put a plan into action.”
Records show Jefferson Parish deputies seized Weber's 2018 Bentley Bentayga after his arrest.
He subsequently filed paperwork to have the Bentayga returned to him, arguing that the car, whose original base price on Carfax was listed at $195,000, “cannot have any evidentiary value as to [his] current charges.” That request remained unresolved Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, Weber said someone outside of Louisiana improperly used his name in deals with Cam Ward.
“The person was pretending to be me, but … it wasn’t me,” Weber said when reached by phone. “It was a misunderstanding. I don't know what's going on.”
Weber then stated that the case against him had been dropped and that reporting it would disgrace his reputation.
Told of these comments, Rivarde said the case against Weber is “100% still open.” The case was also listed as active in the Jefferson County online court system.
Weber said he and Lash were friends. Social media accounts under their names portray both as businessmen.
At least one of Weber's stories hints at his past as a decorated high school basketball player who then played for the University of Alabama men's team during the 2004–05 campaign as a 6-foot-3, 195-pound shooting guard.
The case against Lash and Weber is one of two major cases recently handled by the Jefferson Sheriff's Office involving an NFL player.
Earlier in October the agency said two suspects were arrested and another couple was wanted after a robbery at the home of New Orleans Saints player Cam Jordan. The hack occurred while Jordan was at a game and appears to be one of a number of incidents in the US targeting professional athletes while they are away from their homes competing.
