Irving Fryar was indicted on Wednesday for an alleged mortgage scam the former NFL player ran with his mother, Allene McGhee. The grand jury indicted Fryar and McGhee on charges that they tried to steal more than $690,000.
Prosecutors alleged that Fryar and his mother engaged in a “sophisticate mortgage scam” where McGhee reportedly submitted false information to get five loans on her home in a six-day period.
ABC News reports that both parties were indicted by a New Jersey grand jury on charges of conspiracy and theft by deception. Fryar is a pastor of a church he founded and the head coach of the Robbinsonville High School football team.
Authorities believe that Fryar and McGhee provided incorrect wage information on her loan applications claiming she earned thousands of dollars a month working as an event coordinator for the former NFL player’s church. They added that Irving Fryar apparently spent more than $200,000 of the loan proceeds.
The Huffington Post reports that acting Attorney General John Hoffman stated of the case, “It’s disappointing that someone with an illustrious career in professional sports who now is a minister and coach in the community is charged with this crime, but he must face justice like anyone else.”
The pair allegedly made only a few payments on four of the massive loans. The banks eventually wrote the loans off as losses, according to authorities. Hoffman added, “This is not a case in which Fryar and his mother simply omitted or misstated information on loan applications.” The acting attorney general went on to say, “This indictment alleges that they engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme that was designed to defraud these banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Irving Fryar played in the NFL from 1984 until 2000 for four teams, including the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.
[Image via ShutterStock ]
