No rest for the wicked has never been truer for the professional sports leagues. For the NBA and the NFL, big money is not a new concept. But it also means there is as much chance for the players to become victims of phishing schemes and such because, for the second time in as many weeks, a new scam of impersonating athletes was uncovered.

The more recent scandal involves a couple from New Orleans. They made calculated decisions to pose as star players, like the Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, and defraud millions from investors, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment. 

“The 10-count indictment accuses Albert “Paul” Weber and Cyntrelle Lash, who live in Jefferson Parish, of convincing investors to fork over cash for huge “bridge “loans”—investments they said would cover high-profile athletes’ living, training, and debt costs as they left college and prepared to enter the National Basketball Association and the National Football League,” James Finn of Nola.com reported.

The couple targeted big-name players like Ward and former Buffalo Bills player Leonard Fournette, among others, for one specific reason: their name counts. 

Ward, for instance, was drafted as the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and his rookie year salary alone stood at over $8 million. His rookie contract is worth $48 million-plus. This means if a company wanted to give him a loan, they knew they would get their money on time. Despite having an NIL valuation of $2 million as a Miami standout, optics made sense.

After getting drafted by the Titans, he would have to leave his home and settle down in Tennessee, all of which requires money. Bridge loans are essentially short-term financial solutions. Since NFL and NBA players start to get paychecks from the training camp onwards, these loans can help them settle down without any worries.

That is exactly what Weber and Lash took advantage of.

The report revealed that the accused allegedly pitched money lenders using fake email addresses, driver’s licenses, and W-2 forms while impersonating the athletes and their family members or associates. Names of other players have been redacted from the indictment. But once they received the funds, they laundered them through Weber’s company, called Weber Music & Sports Entertainment.

The couple is accused of stealing over $3 million through this scheme that has been in place since 2016 and only came to light last year. Now, they face multiple charges:

They are charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, for which they face up to 20 years in prison. They have six counts of aggravated identity theft, each of which carries a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence. 

Weber is facing an additional charge of interstate communications of a threat. They allegedly defrauded athletes involved in trips overseas for basketball players. When the athletes approached them about the trips that never happened, he allegedly threatened them and asked for more money, according to the Department of Justice.

For each threat transmission count, he faces up to five years in prison. The two also face fines of up to $250,000 per charge, or $500,000 for money laundering, plus a $100 special assessment per count.

However, this isn’t the first time Weber and Lash have faced such allegations, as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested them on state counts of forgery and identity theft last fall.

The officials had then shared that the couple impersonated the Titans quarterback and his father to steal $250,000 in fake loans. The news came to notice when Ward’s father did not understand why a lien was placed on his fully paid house.

The Times-Picayune report also revealed that Weber “appears to be a former athlete himself” and points out that one Albert Weber was a member of the Alabama basketball team during the 2004-05 season; it isn’t verified if he is the same Albert Weber.

Amid an ongoing investigation, the football community is dealing with another recent scandal.

Ex-Alabama star faces charges for impersonating NFL players

Former Alabama defensive lineman Luther Davis pleaded guilty to defrauding three NFL players and stealing millions in loans in their names. Reportedly, the scam ran from May 2023 to October 2024 and relied on an unusually elaborate level of impersonation of players, including Michael Penix Jr., Xavier McKinney, and David Njoku.

Apart from opening fake bank and email accounts and creating bogus companies, Davis and fellow defendant CJ Evins would wear wigs, makeup, and even durags to close the calls.

“Davis and Evins convinced lenders they were NFL players, obtained millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, and used the proceeds of their crimes to purchase real estate and luxury items,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement announcing the guilty pleas.

Investigators said the pair secured nearly $20 million through at least 13 fraudulent loans. The charges faced by Davis were one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to The Associated Press. Evins faces up to seven years in prison for the same crimes.

While the NFL is already being affected by other fraudulent crimes and burglaries, these two cases only elongate the list of risks the professional players face. For now, federal authorities have stepped in, signaling a crackdown on this growing trend of fraud targeting professional athletes.