The hits keep coming for Jack Johnson.
After details came out earlier this season that Jack Johnson was bankrupted by his parents, a report today by TMZSports.com explains that Johnson has been involved in a Ponzi scheme, orchestrated by former NFLer Will Allen.
From the report:
Now, according to docs obtained by TMZ Sports … officials say one of the athletes he told people he was loaning cash to was Johnson … who had reportedly gone broke after his parents allegedly spent his fortune.
Johnson’s story made national headlines — since he had made more than $18 million in his NHL career at that point.
According to court docs, Allen and his business partner told investors they were gathering cash to make a $5.65 million loan to Johnson … who is currently in the middle of a $30 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But officials say Allen and his partner lied to his investors — because the loan to Johnson was only for $3.4 million … and instead, they used rest of the money to shower themselves in riches.
On the ice, Johnson has had a very solid season, anchoring the Jackets’ blueline. This latest incident however, sheds even more light on the nightmare he’s been facing off the ice.
It’s clear that thanks to his bankruptcy, he looked for alternative means to get money, and in doing so became involved in yet another scandal.
[DP UPDATE]
There’s more. In a war of words posted in The Palm Beach Post blog, the story thickens, with Allen all but calling Johnson a deadbeat, and Johnson’s attorney all but calling Allen a loan shark:
Allen said he first loaned $250,000 to Johnson and charged his standard origination fee of 3 percent, or $7,500.
“I don’t remember him making any payments at all,” Allen said in the deposition.
Even so, Allen agreed to make a larger loan of $1.4 million to Johnson at a one-month interest rate of 12 percent — even though the financially troubled Johnson’s credit score had plunged 100 points.
“I kind of started, to be honest, feeling, not sorry, but like feeling like, you know, we can help him and we can make 12 percent,” Allen said. “I mean, why not, you know.”
During the deposition, Johnson’s attorney, Michael Furbush of Orlando, seized on the steep interest rate, which he said violates Florida’s usury law. After all, 12 percent in one month equates to 144 percent for the year, Furbush said.
“Do you understand that the rate being charged on the $1.4 million loan is illegal under Florida law?” Furbush asked.
“Don’t answer the question,” said Allen’s attorney, Mark Heinish of Boca Raton.