In 2015, Tim Duncan accused his former advisor of bilking him out of over $20M. At the time, he said, “I know what I am doing. It’s not like I was squandering my money or being irresponsible. I am a professional athlete, and I am constantly on the road. I did the appropriate thing and hired professional advisors to watch over my money and my investments. The problem was there was no one watching them.” In 2018, Tim settled for a recovery of $7.5M. It was the best he could do, while his advisor, Charles Banks, was eventually sentenced to four years in federal prison for defrauding him.
Over the last 15 years, professional athletes have reported nearly $600 million in fraud-related losses. It’s been revealed that even trusted advisors are playing some part in draining millions of dollars from athletes—a sort of ‘systematic embezzlement’ designed to separate the athlete and their money.
Additionally, the majority of high-net-worth clients don’t have the time to review all of their money-related habits; therefore, they seldom know where they could have issues or be overpaying [issues that could keep them from their long-term financial goals].
Embezzlement, theft, damage, and destruction come from all directions in a constant storm. It seems like everyone has their hand in the cookie jar. Too often, athletes are being thrown into financial ruin by their most trusted advisors.
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