Photo by nj.com.
Tate George, who was a college star at University of Connecticut and forgettable as an NBA player, was convicted Monday of federal wire fraud for engineering a $2-million Ponzi scheme involving other former athletes.
George, according to prosecutors, swindled investors using his real estate company as the source. Former NBA point guard Brevin Knight, who invested $300,000 in 2007, is among the victims. He became suspicious when dividends went unpaid. Knight was the first witness to testify against George at trial.
Instead of investing funds in real estate developments, George used the money to float homes in West Orange, N.J., and Boca Raton, Fla., and to fund a reality television show about his life, prosecutors said. George also used the money to pay his personal income taxes and siphoned funds from new investors to pay back old ones, prosecutors said.
George, 45, played for the New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks in a four-year NBA career. He was taken into federal custody in New Jersey after the conviction on Monday. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 on each of four wire fraud counts. Sentencing was scheduled for January 2014.
