A former Florida businesswoman is accused of stealing $6 million from 1998 Heisman Trophy winner and former pro football player Ricky Williams and more from three other pro athletes, according to court documents.
Peggy Ann Fulford operated two management companies out of Florida, according to secretary of state records.
Fulford and Williams made an agreement in 2008 for her to manage his financial affairs free of charge, the former running back said in a lawsuit.
Fulford presented herself as a graduate of Harvard’s business and law schools who had made millions in the stock market buying and selling hospitals and “just wanted to protect (clients) from losing their money,” according to a media statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
There is no record of Fulford ever graduating from Harvard, officials said.
Williams and Fulford opened a joint bank account in 2008 in Orlando where the former football player deposited the $11 million that he made from 2007 to 2012, according to court documents.
While Williams and his family were living off a monthly stipend sent from Fulford, she was spending the rest on luxury cars, real estate, jewelry and airline tickets, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Fulford is listed as the head of King Management Group and Associates, LLC, and Dennis Rodman Group and Associates, LLC in Florida.
While he is not named in Fulford’s criminal indictment, TMZ reported in 2015 that former NBA star Dennis Rodman fired Fulford as his financial manager in 2015 and accused her of stealing millions of dollars from him.
At that point, Fulford was going by the name Peggy King, court documents said.
Fulford, who is also known by the aliases, Peggy Williams, Peggy Simpson, Peggy Rivers, Peggy Barard, Devon Cole and Devon Barard, was arrested Friday in New Orleans, the Times-Picayune reported.
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