Adviser Pleas Guilty to |Scamming NFL Players

(CN) - A North Carolina wealth adviser pleaded guilty on Monday to defrauding several NFL Players out of approximately $2.9 million.

Michael Rowan, 46, of High Point, North Carolina, provided financial services to a number of professional athletes through his companies, Capital Management Wealth Advisors Inc. and APS Management LLC.

But federal prosecutors said he used his access to the accounts of several NFL players for his own personal gain.

As recounted in court documents, Rowan contacted prospective NFL players while they were still in college, offering them a range of services including bill payment, investment services and financial guidance.

Rowan would first get a verbal agreement from the athletes, and then, once, they were drafted, he offered his services to them for an annual fee of between $15,000 and $50,000.

He also directed his clients to execute an agency agreement which allowed him access to their bank accounts.

He told them he would only make transactions that they authorized for their benefit. However between May 2008 and August, 2012, Rowan used his access to transfer more than $2.9 million to himself without his clients' authorization or knowledge.

He then failed to report $1.4 million of the embezzled funds on his federal income tax returns from 2009-2013.

Rowan faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and up to three years for filing false tax returns, as well as a period of supervised release and fines.

His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2017.

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