KANSAS CITY, Mo. Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Ohio man who defrauded multiple NFL players including a player for the Kansas City Chiefs out of nearly $25,000 earmarked for charitable causes, has been indicted by a federal grand jury.
Camario A. Richardson, 38, of Maple Heights, Ohio, was charged in a five-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Sept. 13, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Richardsons arrest in Ohio on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, and his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio. Richardson is scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2017, in the Western District of Missouri for subsequent court proceedings.
The federal indictment charges Richardson with one count of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Richardson claimed to have contacts with Nike and agreed to deliver Nike-branded merchandise to five NFL players. None of the victim players are identified by name in court documents.
Richardson allegedly told a Kansas City Chiefs player that he could provide 300 Nike-branded backpacks for a "Book Bag Giveaway" charitable event for children in need of a school backpack at the start of the 2016 school year. Richardson was paid $6,000 for the backpacks in April 2016, the indictment says, but failed to deliver them.
The indictment alleges that Richardson engaged in the same fraud scheme by taking thousands of dollars from the players of three other NFL teams, all as payment for backpacks those players planned to give away at similar charitable events. As a result of Richardsons fraud scheme, the indictment says, all four victim players purchased backpacks from another source for their charitable events.
The indictment also alleges that Richardson engaged in a fraud scheme by taking money from another NFL player as payment for athletic shoes that he failed to provide.
In June 2016, Richardson allegedly took $6,480 from a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player and $6,480 from an Indianapolis Colts player, each of whom were promised 300 backpacks that Richardson failed to deliver, and $4,320 from a Cincinnati Bengals player who was promised 200 backpacks that Richardson failed to deliver. In March 2016, Richardson allegedly took $1,500 from a San Diego Chargers player for athletic shoes that Richardson failed to deliver. Richardsons fraud scheme resulted in a total loss of approximately $24,780. Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
This case is being prosecuted by Criminal Division Chief Gene Porter. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Lees Summit, Mo., Police Department.
--DOJ Western District of Missouri
Source: U.S. Secret Service