There’s a new wrinkle to the impending sale of the Washington Commanders by owner Daniel Snyder.
Snyder reportedly took out a $55 million loan without telling other Commanders stakeholders.
According to ESPN, Snyder took out the loan under the team’s name over four years ago without the three other billionaires who owned a combined 40% of the team. Snyder eventually bought out those three.
“Three billionaires — not a few whistleblowers — alleged to the NFL arbitrator that their partner had possibly committed bank fraud,” someone with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. “This is jail time type of fraud. The NFL owes them as much of a fair shake as it owes Snyder. And the league had no interest in finding out what happened. They buried it and didn’t investigate it and covered it up.”
Robert Rothman, Dwight Schar and Frederick W. Smith protested the loan after they discovered it in a financial report’s fine print. The three began looking at the expenses of the team, including “an advertising fee” of $4.5 million to put the team’s logo on Snyder’s own personal jet. He also charged the franchise $10 million to use the aircraft.
The three former stakeholders say Snyder has used the team as his own “personal piggy bank,” while he gave himself a $10 million salary.
The Washington Post recently reported that Snyder and his attorneys “have demanded” assurances from the league and the other team owners that he will not face any legal liability down the road after selling the franchise.
Those demands from Snyder have reportedly “angered some owners and renewed discussion about the possibility of taking a vote to remove him from ownership of the Commanders.”
They are calling Snyder’s move “absurd,” especially considering the franchise continues to face investigations.
Bids have been placed for the Commanders privately through Snyder, with one offer reportedly coming in at $5.5 billion, per the New York Post. Snyder wants at least $6 billion for the franchise.