Victoria’s Secret Dennis Rodman
believed he was free of financial worry while enjoying his retirement from pro Basketball.
Reality TV appearances and festival DJ gigs kept the money coming in. However,
in 2012 he was threatened with contempt of court for not paying his child support.
Lawyers brought up Rodman's spending habits and combed through his financial records. He was asked
about several Victoria's Secret purchases, and he told the court that he had never been there.
Someone was spending plenty of Dennis Rodman's money, and it wasn’t him.
Peggy Fulford Peggy Ann Fulford has
been called a larger-than-life figure who can make anyone feel like a million bucks. Which is good,
considering she was stealing way more than that from her clients. Peggy told them whatever they
needed to hear to make them feel comfortable with handing over control of their finances.
Now, financial managers for Athletes and celebrities do
exist. They help manage their client's money by paying bills,
investing, and controlling their spending habits. 22-year-old rookies with a few
million dollars in their pockets don't often make the best financial decisions with it.
She started by weaving a web of fake credentials. According to her phony resume,
she studied at Harvard Law and Harvard Business school. She made millions on Wall Street and was
sitting on a hefty sum of money. Peggy weaved this false version of herself. She came off as the hero
these athletes needed. Little did they know, she was pulling them like flies into her web.
As a so-called millionaire, Peggy knew how important it is to protect
your fortune. She had already made it; all she wanted to do was help.
She "proved" this by doing the work pro-bono, calling her clients
“family,” and saying "that's what you do for family." Her family-first mentality
lured victims into a false sense of security, making them perfect for her predatory scam.
Attention The more money you're
playing with, the more attention you attract. Peggy seemed unworried about this old adage and,
in hindsight, played her game rather recklessly. However, discrepancies eventually brought her to
the attention of the FBI. Under their scrutiny, her haphazard lies began to reveal themselves.
Unfortunately, it took the authorities a long time to build a case against her. During this time,
she built an extensive list of victims full of professional athletes that saw her as their
friend. Some people looked to her like the adopted mother of their families. By the time her crimes
were brought to light, she had stolen millions from stars like Denis Rodman and Ricky Williams.
Investigators and victims teamed up to expose Peggy for the fraud she is. She never studied
at Harvard, let alone graduated. She was never sitting on millions in Wall Street earnings,
either. Her lavish lifestyle was funded by money stolen from her A-list
clients. But her web was so tightly spun, that she fooled the public for a long time.
BET even ordered a Pilot episode for a reality TV series called The Peggy Show.
The Peggy Show Peggy was so entangled in her
deception that she seemed to be fooling herself. She purchased a mansion in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, and enjoyed a lifestyle filled with big clients and giant parties. Everything
was on the up for Peggy, and the next logical move was a Reality TV show to document it all.
Peggy's life fit the mold for reality TV, especially at the genre's height
in 2011. The Kardashians and the Real Housewives dominated the reality TV game,
and Peggy wanted a piece of the action. She was a powerful woman who knew what she wanted and didn't
let anyone get in her way. A pitch document said the show would be named after its star,
calling it the Peggy Show. After a bit of bouncing around, the BET network paid for a pilot episode.
This reality tv show was to be about Peggy and
her sports management empire. With 31 professional athletes under her wing,
nobody disputed her empire at the time. The show would document her position as
CEO of King Management Group, the financial advisory and management company she founded.
There would be recurring characters like family members and famous clients. Her brother, Elkin Jr,
would be something of a co-star. He was close with Denis Rodman, and even accompanied him
on his now-famous trip to North Korea. The show would portray her as more than just a
financial advisor and instead focus on "Mama Peggy" as her clients would often call her.
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman is one of the most well-known names in basketball. He played on the famous
90's Bulls with legends such as Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Rodman also became known for
his antics as he was constantly in the news for one thing or another for his lifestyle.
Rodman was introduced to Peggy in the mid-2000s after he had already
retired from basketball. He was still pulling in over $1 million per year,
using his celebrity making money from things such as guest appearances. Rodman's lavish life and
overflowing bank account made him a perfect target for Peggy's scam. Peggy told him she was already
wealthy and just wanted to protect his money. Rodman, just like all the others, fell for it.
He trusted and respected her so much that he thanked her during his 2011
Hall of Fame speech. However, all of this love clouded his judgment. When
red flags started popping up, he never considered it could be her.
Peggy, now on the defensive, convinced him that his spending habits were the problem. Ever brave,
she used this opportunity to gain more control. Peggy seized Rodman's account
and cut off access to his debit card, saying that he couldn't control himself or his spending. Then,
per the beginning of our story, used it to go on a Victoria's Secret shopping spree.
Ricky Williams Rodman wasn't the
first professional athlete Peggy had ensnared. Ricky Williams, an NFL star running back and
Heisman Trophy winner, met Peggy in 1999 after having an interior decorator visit his home.
He was to be on an episode of MTV Cribs, so he needed a touch-up to his place. The decorator
brought along a friend—a friend named Peggy. She and Ricky became like family, or so he thought.
She kept up her illusion quite well,
selling him the same story she gave everyone. She became a close family friend,
throwing a baby shower for his wife and even drove her to the hospital when it came time to
have the baby. She also hosted their wedding reception, where Rodman made an appearance.
Peggy offered to take care of The Williams' finances and invest on their behalf. You can argue
that meeting Williams was the best thing that ever happened for Peggy's scam. She was introduced to
dozens of NFL and NBA stars in the market for a professional money manager through him. For Peggy,
it was like shooting fish in a barrel as she gathered more and more contacts. However,
Kristen Williams, Ricky's wife, would prove to be Peggy's downfall.
Repossessed In 2012, Ricky Williams's wife, Kristen Barnes,
noticed their car had been repossessed. Then, letters started coming in from the IRS claiming
Ricky owed money in back taxes. Baffled, the couple contacted Peggy to ask for an explanation.
As their money manager, Peggy was supposed to be making their car payments and paying their taxes.
After receiving a second letter saying that Ricky owed
$375,000 in unpaid taxes and interest, Kristen became suspicious of Peggy.
So she asked a friend that went to Harvard to check the Alumni for Peggy Fulford. Low and
behold, nobody named Peggy Fulford ever went to Harvard. Kristen kept putting the pieces together.
She contacted the Charles Schwab Corporation, where Peggy supposedly invested their money,
but no funds were found in their name. She even called her bank to find that she'd been barred
from accessing her account! The bank manager suggested she get a lawyer. They were missing
almost $5 million and were devastated to learn that Peggy had been playing them the whole time.
Kristen took that bank manager's advice and filed a civil suit against Peggy. When in court,
the family seemed less angry and more hurt by what happened. Ricky even said to the judge,
"For me, I'm curious, you know, where the money is." They just wanted their money back,
shocked by the reality that had washed over them.
FBI Investigation Now that the lawsuit was filed and
big money was in play, the FBI got involved. Peggy Fulford had built a house out of lies,
and FBI agent Jim Hawkins was there to tear it down. When dealing with a lifelong con artist,
even getting their name right can be a challenge. Peggy had multiple aliases like Peggy King,
Peggy Barard, and Peggy Simpson, mostly stemming from her previous marriages. However, her name
wasn't the only thing she lied about, and as Hawkins dug, he discovered more and more.
Peggy was running over 85 bank accounts and using them to bounce money around. She also
started shell corporations in celebrities' names to launder her stolen money. Company
names included the Dennis Rodman Group LLC, Dennis Rodman Group & Associates LLC,
and Dennis Rodman Inc. In Peggy's thick web of lies, there is one that nobody could find a
reason behind. Peggy lied about Elkin Jr being her little brother; he was actually her son.
Psychology Peggy needed her victims
to trust her, and she did so by employing a bag of psychological tricks. She projected
confidence and power to make her clients believe she knew how to protect their money. Peggy pegged
herself as the hero who'd come to save the day, and money management was her superpower.
Peggy worked for free because her clients were her "family." She threw parties;
she hosted weddings. She even drove soon-to-be and new mothers to and from the hospital. We
can picture her holding Kristen Barnes' hand as she delivered her first child,
assuring her that everything is going to be alright, "mama Peggy is here."
She needed to distract her clients for her con to work, and she did so by becoming their friends.
Peggy's con was dependent on her clients loving her, and she was good at making that happen.
Downfall In 2013, shortly after Dennis Rodman claimed not
to be an avid Victoria's Secret Shopper, Peggy's scam circled the drain. She filed for bankruptcy
to try and keep some property from being foreclosed. All of her luxury items were seized,
and the FBI was hot on her trail. All of her lies came back to bite her in the end. A $300,000
transfer made in 2013 was discovered. The money came from the Wells Fargo account of Lex Hillard,
a client, and NFL Fullback. The money was used to close on a half-acre plot of land in Houston,
Texas. The new owner of that land? Peggy. That transfer put her in agent Hawkin's backyard.
Dennis Rodman fired Peggy in a letter and condemned her for using his name for the
shell companies. After a 2016 FBI interview, Hawkins was satisfied with the evidence he'd
collected. Along with two other agents, he knocked on her door and led Mama Peggy out in handcuffs.
As they walked her out, they discovered one last con—a check for $200,000.
She had told a doctor that she was planning to turn an old high school into an assisted
care facility. When the owners of the property were contacted, they had never heard of Peggy.
With all the evidence gathered against her, Peggy's court case was open
and shut. The lifelong swindler had to stand across from her victims and listen to the pain
she caused them. Peggy pleaded guilty, and the judge sentenced her to 10 years behind bars.
She was also ordered to pay $5 million in restitution to the people she conned.
Athlete Pitfalls
Unfortunately, people will always target athletes for their wealth. There were over $600 million
in recorded losses to fraud between 2004 and 2014 for professional athletes. San Antonio Spurs star,
Tim Duncan, found out firsthand how these scammers come in all shapes,
sizes, and suits. He lost more than $20 million to a shady financial advisor that used him to pay
debts. However, he isn't alone in his struggles. Mark Sanchez and two other baseball players lost
$30 million to a scammer, claiming to be a devout Christian with a mind for charity.
It seems like many athletes get their money young and have no idea what to do with it,
leaving them vulnerable to swindlers like Peggy. They will always be seen
as targets due to their high wealth and low experience. Education and helpful
advice from veterans of their sport could help prevent them from being prey upon.
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