NFL Player Found Guilty in Minnesota Real Estate Fraud Case

Former Minnesota Viking Stu Voigt and business partner Jeffrey Gardner went to trial in January for their role in a multimillion dollar real estate fraud case. They touted their firm, Hennessey Financial LLC, as an avenue for healthy real estate investment profits. Instead, it operated like a Ponzi scheme.

Voight and Gardner were accused of using new investment income to repay past investment obligations and debts, including child support. The duo mislead investors about the profitability of the business, and went as far as to provide fraudulent information on a loan application to a bank where former NFL player Voight served as chairman.

Less than a year after settling a $1 million lawsuit with former teammate Ron Yary, who claimed that Voight conned him and three others including professional wrestling announcer Ken Resnick and an elderly man out of money, retired NFL player Voight is back in the spotlight for the new charges.

His lawyer claimed that Voight lost his entire fortune in the same deal collapse that took out his investor’s funds, but the investors say that is far from the truth.

After two and a half days of deliberation, a Federal jury found Voight guilty of one count of bank fraud and will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum sentence for this charge is 30 years in prison.

Originally charged with 34 counts of fraud, only two made it to trial. However, this does act as some level of justice for his victims. This three time Super Bowl competitor is going to have to watch the big game from behind bars for much of the rest of his life.