Sources — U.S. legal professional’s workplace investigating Commanders over alleged monetary improprieties

The U.S. legal professional’s workplace within the Japanese District of Virginia has opened a felony investigation into allegations that the Washington Commanders engaged in monetary improprieties, two sources aware of the matter confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

The sources mentioned prosecutors are centered on a number of areas, and that the inquiry was triggered by a letter the Home Committee on Oversight and Reform despatched to the Federal Commerce Fee and several other attorneys basic in April that alleged misleading enterprise practices. Attorneys basic in Virginia and Washington, D.C., are also investigating allegations of economic impropriety.

Staff spokeswoman Jean Medina didn’t instantly remark however offered an announcement from legal professional John Brownlee of Holland & Knight, who represents the Commanders.

“It isn’t stunning that ESPN is publishing extra falsehoods primarily based solely on nameless sources — given at present’s announcement,” the assertion mentioned. “…We’re assured that, after these companies have had an opportunity to overview the paperwork and full their work, they may come to the identical conclusion because the group’s inside overview — that these allegations are merely unfaithful.”

Requested Wednesday if the league is conscious of the federal felony investigation, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy mentioned: “We’ll decline remark.”

“The NFL in April engaged former SEC chair Mary Jo White to look into this matter,” McCarthy mentioned. “The overview is ongoing.”

White is main the NFL’s second investigation into issues involving alleged sexual misconduct in Snyder’s group, together with the proprietor’s personal alleged sexual assault of a girl on his airplane in April 2009. It isn’t clear when White will wrap up. The primary investigation, led by Beth Wilkinson, resulted in a $10 million wonderful and a suspension for Snyder however produced no written report.

The U.S. legal professional’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark, and the FTC declined to remark.

The Home committee mentioned in its letter to the FTC that it discovered proof of misleading enterprise observe over the span of greater than a decade, together with withholding ticket income from visiting groups and refundable deposits from followers. The committee outlined via the testimony of former workers and entry to emails and paperwork a sample of economic impropriety by proprietor Dan Snyder and group executives. At one level in 2016, the group retained as much as $5 million from 2,000 season-ticket holders whereas additionally concealing sharable income from the league, in keeping with the committee.

One former worker testified earlier than Congress, saying the group had two separate monetary books: one with underreported ticket income that went to the NFL and the total, full image. In response to testimony, Snyder was conscious of the numbers shared with the league whereas additionally being aware of the precise knowledge. The enterprise observe was often known as “juice” inside Washington’s entrance workplace.

In response to different testimony, monetary misconduct included making it deliberately tough for season-ticket holders to recoup refundable deposit cash, counting a few of these leftover funds as a special type of income that does not should be shared with the league, and shifting cash from ticket gross sales for NFL video games to different occasions at FedEx Subject as a manner of hiding that cash from the league. The committee within the letter shared spreadsheet knowledge displaying proof of deposits that weren’t returned. Citing emails and the testimony of Jason Friedman, a longtime vice chairman of gross sales and customer support, the letter mentioned ticket gross sales from Washington video games had been shifted to a 2013 Kenny Chesney live performance and a 2014 Navy-Notre Dame school soccer recreation as a strategy to “juice” income and hold it off the books shared with the NFL.

“The Washington Commanders have totally cooperated with federal and state investigators for the reason that Home Oversight Overview Committee despatched its letter to the FTC on April 12, 2022 — now practically 7 months in the past,” the assertion from Brownlee mentioned. “The group has produced tens of hundreds of information in response to the requests. The investigations, which ESPN’s nameless sources have mischaracterized, are premised on the identical baseless allegations made by a disgruntled former worker, Jason Friedman, who is also represented by the regulation agency of Katz Banks.”

Additionally on Wednesday, Dan and Tanya Snyder introduced that they’ve employed Financial institution of America Securities to discover potential transactions involving the group. It isn’t clear what these transactions may be, whether or not it was the sale of the group or they’re pursuing minority companions.

ESPN senior writers Seth Wickersham and Tisha Thompson and The Related Press contributed to this report.