NEWARK — Former Nets player Tate George gave himself up to federal authorities Friday and now faces criminal charges for his alleged role in an investment fraud scheme, the Department of Justice announced.
George, once a guard for the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks who played at UConn, was chief executive officer of real estate development firm, the George Group, which officials now say was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.
The firm at one point claimed to have more than $500 million in assets and was supposedly working on real estate projects around the country. Based on those assertions, George managed to bilk about $2 million out of investors, using some of the incoming money to pay off existing clients and some of the rest for “home improvement projects, meals at restaurants, clothing and gas,” the complaint charged, while “in reality, the George Group had virtually no income generating operations.”
The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey and, if convicted, George could do 20 years in prison and have to pay a $250,000 fine.
To read more, go to MarketWatch.