Dan Snyder Accused of Fraud After 'Pocketing' $55M Loan
Take the worst owner in the NFL, tack on allegations of bank fraud stemming from a $55 million loan, and you've got the Washington Commanders' Dan Snyder.
The Commanders have been under fire for allegations of workplace misconduct and ticket price revenue fraud. Despite the immense amount of scrutiny, Snyder is back with another misdeed.
Snyder's in hot water over allegations saying he requested a 'secret' $55 million loan without disclosing the move to minority teams owners, who were required to sign off on it as part of ownership's rule.
Dan Snyder Allegedly Hides $55M Loan
In a report by ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., three former minority team owners — Robert Rothman, Dwight Schar and Frederick W. Smith — discovered the loan through a footnote from a 2020 financial report. They condemned Snyder for using the Commanders like a personal "piggy bank," reportedly charging the team $4.5 million for putting the Commanders logo on his private plane.
Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors in Virginia are coming after Snyder to discover how the credit line was approved without the minority owners' knowledge.
Commanders attorney John Brownlee released a statement regarding the allegation of financial misconduct by Snyder.
"The team has been fully cooperating with the Eastern District of Virginia since it received a request for records last year. The requested records only relate to customer security deposits and the team's ticket sales and revenue. The team will continue to cooperate with this investigation."
NFL 'Played' A Role
One ESPN source shared the account of the failed arbitration between the NFL and minority owners calling for Snyder to be held accountable for the massive loan. They noted that the NFL allegedly operated in Snyder's favor when they eventually dismissed the owners' petition.
"Snyder's wrongful conduct, self-dealing, mismanagement and brazen disregard of his duties also manifest more generally his lack of fitness to continue serving as the principal stockholder and CEO," the minority owners wrote to the NFL.
Roger Goodell at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy addressed the situation.
"The parties had a series of disputes, which were certified to the Commissioner for arbitration as required by league rules," McCarthy said. "The Commissioner appointed a highly-respected attorney as the arbitrator and none of the parties objected to that appointment."
He added, "After several months, the parties were asked if they would be interested in participating in a confidential mediation with the Commissioner, which they agreed to do.
"The mediation lasted for two days and the parties subsequently reached an agreement whereby the three limited partners sold all of their interests in the team to Mr. Snyder at an agreed-upon price and other terms. Everyone was represented by very sophisticated legal and financial advisors.
"The agreement included full releases of all claims that were or could have been asserted by any party in the arbitration proceeding."
The minority partners agreed to have a sit-down with Snyder, and Goodell set to mediate it. Snyder agreed to buy out their collective 40 percent in shares for a total of $875 million. They had been partners in team ownership since 2003.