Commander’s owner, Dan Snyder, “raised a $55 MILLION line of credit without approval from minority partners”…
Commanders owner Dan Snyder is facing a federal investigation for financial misconduct following a “secret” $55 million loan, according to a new report.
Snyder, who is investigating the sale of the franchise, reportedly closed the line of credit without the knowledge and approval of his minority partners, Robert Rothman, Dwight Schar and Frederick W. Smith.
And according to ESPNneither NFL commissioner Roger Goodell nor an NFL arbitrator have investigated the partners’ allegations of financial misconduct.
The trio, which owned 40 percent of the franchise, allegedly discovered the loan in the fine print of an April 2020 financial report.
The partners reportedly pressured the league’s arbitrator to seek evidence that the loan was obtained legally, but the NFL “closed” the arbitration process just four days later.
Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder is reportedly under investigation
Obtaining loans and lines of credit without the approval of Washington’s board of directors, of which minority partners made up half, is a violation of the team’s shareholder agreement, according to documents obtained by ESPN.
In the end, the partner “reluctantly” agreed to mediation – led by Goodell – which resulted in Snyder paying his partners $875 million for their 40 percent stake.
“This is prison fraud,” an anonymous source told ESPN.
The NFL owes them as many fair shakes as Snyder does. And the league had no interest in finding out what happened. They buried it and did not examine it and covered it.’
Documents obtained by ESPN also show that Bank of America officials repeatedly asked team buyers for proof that the loan had been approved by the board.
But the team managers “never provided a copy of the board approval before the loan was taken out,” before a team lawyer acknowledged that there was no board approval.
The partners also reportedly discovered that Snyder was using the team as his “personal piggy bank,” which included charging the team $4.5 million to put the logo on his private jet, they claimed.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement: “The parties had a series of disputes, which were submitted to the commissioner for arbitration as required by league rules. The commissioner appointed a highly respected lawyer as arbitrator and none of the parties objected to that appointment.’
Snyder is reportedly holding $7 billion for the franchise, which he’s owned since 1999
The Commanders went 8-8-1 last season as they narrowly missed the NFL playoffs
‘After several months, the parties were asked if they were interested in participating in a confidential mediation with the Commissioner, which they agreed to do. The mediation lasted two days and the parties then reached an agreement whereby the three limited partners sold all of their interests in the team to Mr. Snyder for an agreed price and other terms.
“Everyone was represented by highly sophisticated legal and financial advisers. The agreement included a full waiver of all claims that were or could have been made by any party to the arbitration proceedings.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment to ESPN, while the team reportedly cooperated fully with the Eastern District of Virginia.
Snyder announced late last year that he is exploring the possibility of selling the embattled team, following investigations into sexual harassment, hostile workplaces and past fraud allegations.
Snyder reportedly values the team at $7 billion.
