After six former NFL players lost millions to an Atlanta hedge fund manager who was a fraud, they filed suit against the NFL and their union. The players contended the league was responsible for listing the fund as a possible investment opportunity without properly investigating it.
In a ruling this week, however, the federal appeals court in Atlanta rejected the players' attempts to collect damages from the NFL and the National Football League Players Association. The court said the league's collective bargaining agreement preempted the lawsuit because it stated the players were solely responsible for their personal finances.
The players, who included former Pro Bowl defensive backs Steve Atwater and Blaine Bishop, filed suit in 2006 after the disclosure that their charismatic hedge fund manager, the late Kirk Wright, had been operating a Ponzi scheme. Ray Crockett, Carlos Emmons, Clyde Simmons and Al Smith also filed suit. The six collectively invested about $20 million with Wright's hedge fund in 2004 and 2005.
Their suit said the union negligently allowed Wright to be listed as a players' financial adviser even though he had a criminal history and more than $400,000 in liens had been placed against him.
Wright was convicted in 2008 of 47 counts of fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors said Wright took in more than $150 million in investments and betrayed former NFL athletes, long-time family friends and professionals who put their finances under his control.
Prosecutors said Wright spent much of the investments to support his lavish lifestyle. He wore Hugo Boss suits and a $50,000 Rolex watch. He drove a $200,000 Lamborghini. When he remarried in 2006, he threw a $500,000 reception. He also spent $1 million to remodel his Marietta mansion.
When Wright's fraud was finally uncovered, he fled. He was arrested in May 2006 after ordering poolside cocktails at a Ritz-Carlton in Miami. He had fake s, identification, $30,000 in cash and a new Mercedes. He had just paid a year's rent for a condo on Biscayne Bay.
After his conviction, Wright faced decades in prison. On May 24, 2008, while awaiting sentencing, the 37-year-old man hanged himself with bed sheets at the Union County jail.
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