According to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, Cleveland Browns linebacker, Mychal Kendricks, and former Goldman Sachs analyst-turned-TV writer, Damilare Sonoiki, have been charged with securities fraud.
Kendricks admitted to his involvement in an insider trading scheme with Sonoiki between 2013 and 2015 — and, according to his attorney, plans to plead guilty in the coming weeks.
A real made-for-TV kinda plot
The DoJ alleges that the Harvard-educated Sonoiki advised Kendricks to invest $80k in 4 companies: Compuware, Move, Sapient, and Oplink. In less than 5 months, he “magically” generated close to $1.2m in illicit gains.
In return for the tips, Kendricks reportedly provided around $10k in kickbacks to Sonoiki, in the form of cash and NFL tickets.
Gordon Gekko would be proud
Kendricks has apologized to the NFL, his family, the Cleveland Browns (who he signed a one-year deal with in June), and the Philadelphia Eagles (who he won a Super Bowl with last year).
(Meanwhile, he kinda, sorta threw his “friend” under the bus.)
In a statement, he acknowledged he was aware of his wrongdoing at the time of the scheme, yet also implied that Sonoiki gave him a “false sense of confidence.”
If convicted, both men face up to 25 years in prison.
