Pistons Star Indicted - Send Him Bail Money and He'll Pay You Back Triple Your Investment (63 views)

[👨🏼‍⚕️delapandemic🚑]

Reuters Newswire

9/10/2006

Have you received an email promising a vast payback from a Nigerian prince if you simply wire him the money he needs to "unlock" it and get it back to you?  Have you sent the money in hopes of retrieving a lost inheritance or a return on a previously unknown investment in Nigeria or with the Nigerian government? 

If so, you may have Yommy Sangodeyi to blame.  The affable, charming center for the Detroit Pistons, himself worth millions of dollars, has been running an empire bilking thousands of unsuspecting senior citizens out of their retirement checks, as they hope to strike it rich.  Sangodeyi, 29, was arrested in Auburn Hills, MI today and charged with racketeering, money laundering, and bank/wire fraud, among other counts.  His lawyer has advised his client not to speak publicly, but Mr. Sangodeyi notably apologized on camera as he entered the police precinct to turn himself in.  In a scam that dates back to the 1990s, it is alleged that Mr. Sangodeyi organized and ran the scheme through a network of his associates in Michigan and in his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.  While there were other actors involved, the scam itself was Mr. Sangodeyi's brainchild as he learned quickly that Americans are quite gullible.  He points out that some lousy dump of a person even paid him millions of dollars to barely be a competent basketball player.

TMBSL Commissioner Odin has suspended Mr. Sangodeyi for 195 sim days, meaning he will not participate at all in the remainder of the 2006 season and will not be eligible until Day 90 of the 2007 season.  There is a chance that Mr. Sangodeyi will still be in prison at that time, so his basketball days are likely over. Pending an appeal from the Pistons organization (filed by Interim GM Telap Dhrows), it is fully expected that Yommy Sangodeyi's entire contract (valued at roughly $93m) will be voided and removed from the books.   If so, the Pistons are prepared to move on and replace Yommy with local hero, Jaren Jackson Jr. for the remainder of the 2006 season.