Report: Fraudster sent nearly $200K to father of ex-LSU OL while he was playing for Tigers
A man who pled guilty to stealing more than $500,000 from a Louisiana foundation reportedly sent nearly $200,000 of that money to the father of former LSU player Vadal Alexander while Alexander was at LSU.
John Paul Funes pleaded guilty Thursday to taking upwards of $550,000 from the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation. According to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, “Individual C” in Funes’ indictment is James Alexander, the father of former Tiger OL Vadal Alexander. The indictment outlines $180,000 that Funes sent James Alexander while Vadal was at LSU.
That payment could, of course, be an NCAA violation. LSU issued a statement to the Business Report and declined further comment after it said it “was made aware of specific allegations by [foundation] officials in late 2018 and made that information immediately available to the NCAA.”
The details of Funes’ embezzling are quite wild. He was the CEO and president for the Our Lady of the Lake hospital system’s foundation and stole the half-million over a period of seven years. He took gift cards that were for people with cancer and also paid for trips to LSU and New Orleans Saints football games.
He faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Family of former LSU QB also reportedly involved
According to both the Baton Rouge Advocate and the Business Report, the mother and sister of former LSU QB Rohan Davey received over $100,000 from Funes. Those payments happened when Davey was not at LSU. He played for the Tigers from 1998-2001, long before the embezzling began in 2012.
For example, the bill of information against Funes alleged he submitted vouchers to pay home medical care for a Children's Hospital patient, then sent checks totaling $107,000 to an unnamed Floridian and the person's daughter. Neither were patients at the hospital, but Funes had a close relationship with their family, the documents state. The pair — identified only as individuals "A" and "B" — then sent about $63,000 back to Funes.
A source close to the case, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case publicly, confirmed this week that those persons are the mother and sister of former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey. They have not been charged in the case. Davey was no longer at LSU when the alleged payments were made.
Alexander, meanwhile, was a seventh-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 2016 NFL draft. He played in 24 games over two seasons with the team.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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