(WHTM) — A former member of the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers allegedly partook in schemes to steal thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funds, according to court records filed in Delaware.
Wendell Smallwood Jr. faces a count of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the IRS, according to court documents.
Court docs state that Smallwood created and submitted fake documents from his businesses – Smallwood Sports Management, Smallwood Enterprise Properties LLC, and Taste Buds – to get funds from national pandemic relief programs from 2019 to 2023.
The fake documents – that included how much his business grossly made, the number of employees, etc., – were allegedly submitted by Smallwood at financial institutions to get tens of thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funding.
Smallwood and others also allegedly recruited pandemic relief borrowers in Delaware and gathered information from them to use in fraudulent applications, claiming that they were employees of his, court docs show. The funds were then dispersed by Smallwood to others, however Smallwood allegedly received kickback payments for getting the loans.
The filing in the US District Court in Delaware also claims Smallwood withdrew the stolen funds at ATMs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, or he transferred the money for his “businesses” into personal accounts for his own use, court docs show.
The maximum penalty for the wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges is 20 years of imprisonment. The third charge faces a 10 year maximum sentence, potentially leading to 50 years in prison.
Smallwood played running back in the NFL from 2016 to 2021, including three years with the Eagles and a year with the Steelers. He was drafted by the Eagles from West Virginia in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Smallwood was a member of the Eagles Super Bowl 52 team but did not play in the game.
Smallwood also played for the Washington Redskins, which later became the Washington Football Team. His last NFL game was in January 2022 for Washington against the Philadelphia Eagles.
