A lawyer who has represented retired players in the class action lawsuit against the NFL over brain injuries has been charged with defrauding 20 of those players.
The lawyer, Phillip Timothy Howard, was charged along with business partner Don Warner Reinhard, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced.
Howard and Reinhard are accused of telling retired NFL players that Reinhard was an “extremely successful investment manager,” but failing to mention that he had served jail time for bankruptcy fraud and tax fraud, and had been barred by the SEC from working for any investment adviser firm. Howard and Reinhard allegedly raised $4 million from the retired NFL players, convincing some of them to roll over their NFL 401(k) accounts to hedge funds operating out of Howard’s law offices.
“Instead of investing all of the funds’ assets as promised, Howard and Reinhard used a significant portion of investor money to line their own pockets,” the SEC stated.
The NFL concussion settlement has seen retired players awarded more than $685 million. With that kind of money available, it is unsurprising to learn that not everyone representing the retired players is doing so with the best of intentions.
