According to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. government's financial police now have a court order to freeze the assets of NFL Players Association-approved investment advisor Ash Narayan after he had allegedly swindled more than $30 million dollars from three pro athletes in the NFL and MLB. The pro athletes victimized by scheme listed in a lawsuit against Narayan are Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez, San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy, and Colorado Rockies pitcher Roy Oswalt.
The three former clients of Narayan were each close friends of his when they began their careers and trusted him with their funds for low-risk, conservative investment funds. Narayan reportedly gained the trust of each player from sharing the same Christian faith, and he even went to the same church as Sanchez, Vice reported. Oswalt was introduced to Narayan through his agent and had reportedly invested approximately 80 percent of his salary into a brokerage account managed by the investment advisor. The three athletes lost approximately $30,435,000 altogether, with Peavy losing $15 million of it himself.
According to LeapRate, a complaint was filed on May 24. The SEC charged Narayan—along with The Ticket Reserve Inc., company CEO Richard M. Harmon, and chief operating officer John A. Kaptrosky. Narayan was a board member who owned significant shares in Ticket Reserve Inc., a company that Harmon said is designed to "monetize anticipation in a world in which 'people spend a lot more time anticipating stuff than actually doing stuff.'"
Basically, a Ponzi scheme, for lack of a better term.
Narayan, pictured above, remains a financial advisor in the NFLPA database. Although he is not a certified public accountant, he claimed to be one in his email signature.
The SEC’s says Narayan transferred more than $33 million from clients’ accounts to The Ticket Reserve to save the company from going under. Narayan had allegedly took money from Oswalt, Peavy, and Sanchez's direct deposited paychecks and redirected them to Ticket Reserve without their consent or knowledge. He even forged their signatures on several documents for the transactions.
Shamoil T. Shipchandler, Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office said:
We allege that Narayan exploited athletes and other clients who trusted him to manage their finances. He fraudulently funneled their savings into a money-losing business and his own pocket . The asset freeze stops the uncontrolled spending of investor assets within The Ticket Reserve until the case is resolved, preserving money that rightfully belongs to Narayan’s clients.
The SEC is seeking reimbursement of the embezzled gains, interest and penalties, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions.
