Reggie Fowler, an ex-investor of the Minnesota Vikings, is facing charges for a $800 bank fraud and has reportedly spent the months leading up to his sentencing losing $200,000 at Arizona casinos. Fowler, 63, pleaded guilty to various fraud allegations in April 2022 and was supposed to be sentenced on Thursday, but his lawyers have requested to adjourn the sentencing by a week.
In April 2019, US prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Bitfinex, a crypto exchange related to Tether, the world’s third-largest digital currency. The suit accused Bitfinex of utilizing Tether’s funds to cover the disappearance of $850 million that was transferred to Crypto Capital, a Panamanian payment processor linked to Fowler. Crypto Capital acted as a shadow bank for crypto exchanges that couldn’t gain a regular banking relationship due to banks’ hesitance to handle crypto assets.
Unexpectedly, Crypto Capital kept the money without signing a contract with Bitfinex and the exchange did not inform its investors of the loss. The money was later found in a bank account in Poland and confiscated by the authorities. Furthermore, Fowler’s company, Global Trading Solutions, provided crypto exchanges with illegal access to the US banking system, processing hundreds of millions of transactions without the necessary banking license.
Moreover, Fowler is alleged to have defrauded and caused the failure of the Alliance of American Football, a short-lived professional football league. He allegedly promised to invest $53 million in the league and offered a $120 million line of credit. He reportedly informed the league’s executives that the hundreds of millions he had been managing on behalf of crypto firms was money he was allowed to invest. However, when he failed to fulfill the agreement, the AAF was forced to shut down.
Prosecutors are outraged by Fowler’s casino gambling behavior, which has continued even after his guilty plea. They have acquired records from a casino company in Arizona that shows he has gambled hundreds of thousands of dollars during the legal proceedings. Consequently, they have asked the court to apply a bail condition to prevent Fowler from gambling anymore. Prosecutors have requested a seven-year prison sentence for him.
