NFL star Terrell Owens says ex-employee stole $27,000 to pay rent

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A former employee of NFL star Terrell Owens is accused of using the football star’s bank account to pay more than $27,000 in rent.

Atlanta police are looking for Antonio Edwards, 35, who is accused of using Owens’ Bank of America account to make monthly rent payments for his Buckhead apartment.

Edwards and another man, Anthony Watson, 34, lived in the Post Alexander apartment complex from November 2009 through November 2010, according to police documents.

Watson was listed as the primary resident, but Edwards was paying the rent, which averaged a little over $2,100 a month, an incident report states.

Police records show Edwards was paying the rent online by using the Post (Properties) Resident Portal. The portal generates an email each time a tenant signs in to pay rent and sends a confirmation email to that resident.

Two Post Properties officials met with Atlanta police detectives in February, providing them with those confirmation emails as well as bank records from the Bank of America account. The bank records list Edwards as the payor of those monthly electronic payments, according to police documents.

Investigations interviewed Owens in April.

Owens confirmed to police that Edwards was a former employee of his but that neither he nor Watson had permission to use his Bank of America account.

Owens also told police he didn’t know how Edwards would have access to his bank information.

Post Properties returned the money to Owens, as required by law.

Fulton County Magistrate Judge Kimberly Warden issued 13 arrest warrants for Edwards, charging him with felony theft by deception.

Edwards now has a Mableton address, according to police records.