Former Raiders William Joseph & Michael Bennett arrested for tax refund fraud

[Artois]

William Joseph Michael Bennett arrest - ktuu.com

Two former NFL first-round picks nabbed in FBI sting

By Jon Burstein, Sun Sentinel
11:28 p.m. AKDT, May 1, 2012


Two former NFL first-round draft picks were busted in an FBI sting designed to catch crooks committing the hottest financial crime in South Florida — tax refund fraud, federal authorities announced Tuesday.

William Joseph, once a standout defensive tackle at the University of Miami, cashed fraudulently obtained tax refund checks at a North Miami financial services store opened by the FBI and wired for audio and video surveillance, according to federal court documents.

He later brought his former Oakland Raiders teammate Michael A. Bennett to the store, where Bennett lied about having $9 million in the bank so he could obtain a $200,000 loan, federal authorities said. Bennett, who had a 10-year career as an NFL running back, faces a count of wire fraud.

In addition to the two ex-NFL players, six other people were arrested in the sting, including Louis Gachelin, a former star defensive lineman at Miami Jackson High and half-brother of Denver Broncos player Elvis Dumervil. Gachelin played for Syracuse University and had a stint in the NFL Europe.

Federal prosecutors said that during the three-month undercover operation, people came into the FBI-run business to cash about $500,000 in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks. Any money the customers received came from official FBI funds and none of the checks were actually cashed, court records show.

"Organized criminals are stealing $5 billion and more by fraudulently claiming tax refunds," said John Gillies, the FBI's special agent in charge of the agency's Miami office. "Without proper safeguards, identity theft tax fraud has become a growing epidemic. The FBI is proactively going undercover to fight the fraud, but unfortunately today's arrests are just the tip of the iceberg."

The Broward Sheriff's Office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office have been flooded with more than 1,000 tax-related identity theft reports apiece the past few months. The complaints mirror the nationwide explosion in such fraud, with total complaints jumping almost five-fold from 52,000 in 2008 to nearly 250,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Joseph, 32; Bennett, 33; and Gachelin, 31, all arrested Monday, appeared in Miami federal court on Tuesday afternoon wearing shackles and khaki jail jumpsuits. The defendants were granted bonds of no more than $200,000. Their arraignments are scheduled for May 15.

Joseph, who grew up in Miami, signed a five-year, $6.95 million contract when he was drafted by the New York Giants in 2003. He played for the Giants until 2007 and spent his final three years with the Raiders.

He faces counts of forgery of U.S. Treasury checks, theft of government money and possessing five or more identification documents with unlawful intent. The charges could carry up to 15 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Joseph, of Miramar, came on federal authorities' radar on March 14 when he reportedly drove an acquaintance, Lanny Fried, to a meeting with an FBI confidential informant. Fried gave the informant 11 fraudulently obtained tax refund checks totaling $56,000 along with driver's licenses and Social Security cards matching the names on the checks, court records show.

Fried collected cash for some of the checks from the FBI's storefront on March 20 and was confronted by agents, court records show. Fried said the checks came from Joseph, according to federal authorities.

Joseph later came to the store himself to cash two refund checks totaling $17,400, court records show. Joseph agreed to take a 65 percent cut of the check with an undercover agent keeping the rest, federal authorities allege.

Joseph's attorney, Zeljka Bozanic, declined to comment Tuesday afternoon. Joseph's acquaintance, Fried, was arrested Monday on counts of theft of government money and illegally possessing identification documents.

Federal authorities learned of Bennett when an informant involved in the investigation mentioned he had been looking to get a large loan using a phony bank statement to show he had millions in collateral. FBI agents were aware that Bennett previously obtained a $250,000 loan using a phony bank statement indicating he had more than $5 million in his account when he actually only had $4,088, court records show.

Joseph later brought Bennett to the store. Bennett claimed he had $9 million in a bank account that in fact was empty, court records show.

Bennett asked for a $200,000 loan, promising to repay $280,000 at the end of 120 days, court records show. When Bennett went to pick up a $150,000 cashier's check on Monday, he was arrested.

He admitted he doctored the bank statement, according to federal authorities.

Bennett, a running back at the University of Wisconsin, was drafted in 2001 by the Minnesota Vikings. He played for five teams, ending his career with the Raiders.

William Joseph Michael Bennett arrest - ktuu.com

Wow, Bennett only has $4,000? Wow also to almost to trying to steal that much tax payer money.

[Evil Empire]

maybe the court can ordered them to pay back the Raiders the money they stole from them when they played!

[mexicanraider]

I truly and honestly don't get how someone that gets a $6.95 million/5 yr contract plus at least a mill a year the rest of his career is mixed up in something like this.

#1 How/why they blew all that money
#2 How about working for a change?

Sad; very sad to be honest.

[Raiduz]

Money doesn't last.
Glad we're getting character guys and won't have to hear about this stuff anymore.

[RunOvrByHubbard]

We had Bennett in training camp two years in a row and I thought he looked quite good. I actually thought he was going to make the team. He is still young enough to play. Dummy.

[LINQ]

[RF-83]

These players seriously need financial advisors.

I'm SHOCKED teams don't employ one advisor for all the players. A guy who handles there bank accounts and gives them money when they want to purchase something.

I know it sounds like something you would do for a 18 year old but these guys are simply retarded. These guys fail to realize that 1 Million a year is not that much money after you lose 47% to taxes. Also these players fail to realize that their careers may only last 3-4 years and at most maybe 10 year for a good career and that that money needs to last them the rest of their lives. Especially since most these guys have major's in basket weaving at their Universities.

Watching shows like "The T.O. Show" it's easy to see how these guys go broke. Saw an episode where he dropped like 125k on a set of earrings.

If these guys simply bought a nice house and then saved even 25% of there incomes they could live very nicely on the interest from there professional careers.

Teams in the NFL should realize this and make it mandatory for teams to employ financial advisors who manage there players money. The professional leagues, especially the NFL and NBA should be ashamed of how many of their former players who made MILLIONS of dollars are going bankrupt 3-4 years after there careers. It's clear the rookie synopsis's are doing absolutely NOTHING.

Every week there is an article on a guy going bankrupt, not paying child support, getting arrested for fraud, selling drugs, killing someone or some BS.

I mean I don't make half as much money as they do and work for a bank. I'm in a MANDATORY defined benefits package where part of my salary is taken from my pay check and put in RRSP's or a Tax Free Savings account which my company matches. It helps me and forces me to plan for my retirement. The bank doesn't want it's employee's going bankrupt so they force us to do this. WIN WIN

The NFL and other professional leagues NEED to put this in place. Especially since professional players are often looked up too as role models. I don't agree it should be this way (these players being role models) but in todays world of mass media it is occurring. Having role models who can't afford to pay child support and go bankrupt and end up in jail is not good business.

[LaRaider2010]

The Rookie symposiums need to start to use scare tactics at the beginning of players careers.
anyone remember the " RED Asphalt" videos they played back in the day for teens in drivers ed class.
they need the equivelant for athletes business woes. There is too many of them who do suit the stereotype of no brains riding on their athletic abilities.

[mexicanraider]

These players seriously need financial advisors.

I'm SHOCKED teams don't employ one advisor for all the players. A guy who handles there bank accounts and gives them money when they want to purchase something.

I know it sounds like something you would do for a 18 year old but these guys are simply retarded. These guys fail to realize that 1 Million a year is not that much money after you lose 47% to taxes. Also these players fail to realize that their careers may only last 3-4 years and at most maybe 10 year for a good career and that that money needs to last them the rest of their lives. Especially since most these guys have major's in basket weaving at their Universities.

Watching shows like "The T.O. Show" it's easy to see how these guys go broke. Saw an episode where he dropped like 125k on a set of earrings.

If these guys simply bought a nice house and then saved even 25% of there incomes they could live very nicely on the interest from there professional careers.

Teams in the NFL should realize this and make it mandatory for teams to employ financial advisors who manage there players money. The professional leagues, especially the NFL and NBA should be ashamed of how many of their former players who made MILLIONS of dollars are going bankrupt 3-4 years after there careers. It's clear the rookie synopsis's are doing absolutely NOTHING.

Every week there is an article on a guy going bankrupt, not paying child support, getting arrested for fraud, selling drugs, killing someone or some BS.

I mean I don't make half as much money as they do and work for a bank. I'm in a MANDATORY defined benefits package where part of my salary is taken from my pay check and put in RRSP's or a Tax Free Savings account which my company matches. It helps me and forces me to plan for my retirement. The bank doesn't want it's employee's going bankrupt so they force us to do this. WIN WIN

The NFL and other professional leagues NEED to put this in place. Especially since professional players are often looked up too as role models. I don't agree it should be this way (these players being role models) but in todays world of mass media it is occurring. Having role models who can't afford to pay child support and go bankrupt and end up in jail is not good business.

Excellent post. You are right about everything, however, the players entering the NFL during adulthood (20+ yrs old) makes it very unlikely to enforce something like this. They can suggest players to get advisors, but at the end of the day, is up to the individual to spend the money on whatever he chooses on. I don't know if the NFL has a savings plan like the ones you get in some companies, that if you save 10% of your salary the company matches that with another 10%, however, you only see the money once a year or less frequently so that stimulates the habit of saving.

How long till we see JR in similar news?

[RF-83]

These players seriously need financial advisors.

I'm SHOCKED teams don't employ one advisor for all the players. A guy who handles there bank accounts and gives them money when they want to purchase something.

I know it sounds like something you would do for a 18 year old but these guys are simply retarded. These guys fail to realize that 1 Million a year is not that much money after you lose 47% to taxes. Also these players fail to realize that their careers may only last 3-4 years and at most maybe 10 year for a good career and that that money needs to last them the rest of their lives. Especially since most these guys have major's in basket weaving at their Universities.

Watching shows like "The T.O. Show" it's easy to see how these guys go broke. Saw an episode where he dropped like 125k on a set of earrings.

If these guys simply bought a nice house and then saved even 25% of there incomes they could live very nicely on the interest from there professional careers.

Teams in the NFL should realize this and make it mandatory for teams to employ financial advisors who manage there players money. The professional leagues, especially the NFL and NBA should be ashamed of how many of their former players who made MILLIONS of dollars are going bankrupt 3-4 years after there careers. It's clear the rookie synopsis's are doing absolutely NOTHING.

Every week there is an article on a guy going bankrupt, not paying child support, getting arrested for fraud, selling drugs, killing someone or some BS.

I mean I don't make half as much money as they do and work for a bank. I'm in a MANDATORY defined benefits package where part of my salary is taken from my pay check and put in RRSP's or a Tax Free Savings account which my company matches. It helps me and forces me to plan for my retirement. The bank doesn't want it's employee's going bankrupt so they force us to do this. WIN WIN

The NFL and other professional leagues NEED to put this in place. Especially since professional players are often looked up too as role models. I don't agree it should be this way (these players being role models) but in todays world of mass media it is occurring. Having role models who can't afford to pay child support and go bankrupt and end up in jail is not good business.

Excellent post. You are right about everything, however, the players entering the NFL during adulthood (20+ yrs old) makes it very unlikely to enforce something like this. They can suggest players to get advisors, but at the end of the day, is up to the individual to spend the money on whatever he chooses on. I don't know if the NFL has a savings plan like the ones you get in some companies, that if you save 10% of your salary the company matches that with another 10%, however, you only see the money once a year or less frequently so that stimulates the habit of saving.

How long till we see JR in similar news?

Any day now.

Just a matter of time how you can make 39 Million in 3 years and fail to make payments and have your house foreclosed is beyond me.

Families making 40k combined are still able to hang on by the skin of there teeth in some cases.

He only made $38 960 000 more than them lol.

The worst part of all this is even the guys who find employment after retirement as analysts for the NFL are now going bankrupt (Tiki Barber & Sapp).

I'm expecting the # of bankrupt players to only increase exponentially with the new rookie salary system. Can you imagine how many more players would be broke now without the old salary system for draftees being in place.

[LINQ]

The Rookie symposiums need to start to use scare tactics at the beginning of players careers.
anyone remember the "Blood Asphalt" videos they played back in the day for teens in drivers ed class.
they need the equivelant for athletes business woes. There is too many of them who do suit the stereotype of no brains riding on their athletic abilities.

Good idea IMO.

[Okie]

This is why i could not sympathize with the players last year. The lowest paid players after their average 3 years still walk away from the NFL with better medical than our own soldiers, a college education and approximately 1.5 million in cash. This doesnt even include any minor endorcements or connections they have made on their way up.

Hand me 1.5 million and at 34 i could retire without working another day and still live a very comfortable life. Sure, maybe i dont have 12 cars and 10 carrots in each ear but i still have a great and easy lifestyle! I understand how these guys lose their money, i just have trouble blaming anyone but them for that or expecting someone else to cover that loss!

[coogi]

This is why i could not sympathize with the players last year. The lowest paid players after their average 3 years still walk away from the NFL with better medical than our own soldiers, a college education and approximately 1.5 million in cash. This doesnt even include any minor endorcements or connections they have made on their way up.

Hand me 1.5 million and at 34 i could retire without working another day and still live a very comfortable life. Sure, maybe i dont have 12 cars and 10 carrots in each ear but i still have a great and easy lifestyle! I understand how these guys lose their money, i just have trouble blaming anyone but them for that or expecting someone else to cover that loss!

wow im agreeing with okie??these guys throw away high priced college educations and millions of dollars..yes i understand they put their bodies on the line but it is BY CHOICE and they are well compensated IMO..btw theres millions of people wishing they had these guys jobs..its not like they are picking up trash on the side of the road for living..theres plenty of poor/middle class people who dont know how to manage their money either..im sure everyone here personally knows a few..if they werent so concerned with driving a car worth as much as a house they might be better off

[keelhaul]

These players seriously need financial advisors.

I'm SHOCKED teams don't employ one advisor for all the players. A guy who handles there bank accounts and gives them money when they want to purchase something.

I know it sounds like something you would do for a 18 year old but these guys are simply retarded. These guys fail to realize that 1 Million a year is not that much money after you lose 47% to taxes. Also these players fail to realize that their careers may only last 3-4 years and at most maybe 10 year for a good career and that that money needs to last them the rest of their lives. Especially since most these guys have major's in basket weaving at their Universities.

Watching shows like "The T.O. Show" it's easy to see how these guys go broke. Saw an episode where he dropped like 125k on a set of earrings.

If these guys simply bought a nice house and then saved even 25% of there incomes they could live very nicely on the interest from there professional careers.

Teams in the NFL should realize this and make it mandatory for teams to employ financial advisors who manage there players money. The professional leagues, especially the NFL and NBA should be ashamed of how many of their former players who made MILLIONS of dollars are going bankrupt 3-4 years after there careers. It's clear the rookie synopsis's are doing absolutely NOTHING.

Every week there is an article on a guy going bankrupt, not paying child support, getting arrested for fraud, selling drugs, killing someone or some BS.

I mean I don't make half as much money as they do and work for a bank. I'm in a MANDATORY defined benefits package where part of my salary is taken from my pay check and put in RRSP's or a Tax Free Savings account which my company matches. It helps me and forces me to plan for my retirement. The bank doesn't want it's employee's going bankrupt so they force us to do this. WIN WIN

The NFL and other professional leagues NEED to put this in place. Especially since professional players are often looked up too as role models. I don't agree it should be this way (these players being role models) but in todays world of mass media it is occurring. Having role models who can't afford to pay child support and go bankrupt and end up in jail is not good business.

Didn't Reggie hire some guy to advise players back before the draft? I can't remember what his name was or find it now.

[RavenRaider]

i think we hired a life coach didnt we? someone from KC?