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How NBA executive Jeff David stole $13M from the Sacramento Kings
- ngneer 7y agoA man in the middle attack can be avoided with mutual authentication. The fault lies with the companies that entrusted so much to a single individual.
- semiotagonal 7y agoThe number of people involved in the authentication would have to exceed the other party's ability to bribe them. Corrupt practices could extend to both companies involved in a deal.
- jeffwilcox 7y agoFor an interesting read, check out the 1MDB scandal - the book "The Billion Dollar Whale" is quite a read.
- zlast 7y agoThe craziest thing about this is that if Jeff didn't conduct all his (illegal) business on his work laptop, he may never have been caught. And, the only reason HR decided to look at his laptop was to find "a copy of a commission structure to build out the corporate sales team" that Jeff was supposed to leave behind before he left for another job.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- yitchelle 7y agoI guess he needed to use his laptop to ensure that deal looks legit.
- CharlesColeman 7y ago> I guess he needed to use his laptop to ensure that deal looks legit. I think that's true for his work email, but he could probably have gotten away with using a different laptop for the files.
- stefan_ 7y agoTake another one? I'm not sure what this means. Do you screen your work colleagues laptops?
- kbar13 7y agothe deal with golden1 would probably have looked weird a few years down the line when the payments didn't match up
- x0x0 7y agoYeah, I don't understand what the plan was for 20 years from now when the contract gets renegotiated. Maybe he figured corporate amnesia would have set in. Still, it seems like there are easier ways to make more money. eg if you're a really good salesperson, there are plenty of companies -- mine included -- that will happily double or triple that $360k/year.
- ip26 7y ago20 years from now, statute of limitations, right?
- ranDOMscripts 7y agonot only that, 20 years from now = new ownership group and records get lost in the shuffle
- ghostbrainalpha 7y agoThat's the stupidest thing. He would have been busted for sure, but there is no reason he couldn't have reduced the "Upfront" money he took by $500,000 to begin with. If everything had matched up perfectly at the end, there is little reason for anyone to ever look into anything. He also maybe have parked the stolen money in an offshore account for a few years, and not gone crazy shopping before he even left that job. Like seriously, do none of his coworkers who know how much he makes wonder about the size of his mansions?
- detaro 7y ago500,000, later 1,000,000, per year. See the table in the article: the overall sum of the contract didn't change, he asked for 9 million to be paid earlier than initially planned. They'd somehow have to reappear entirely later for everything to look clean.
- clairity 7y agoyes, exactly. he covered his tracks pretty well otherwise, but he apparently lacked a fundamental understanding of how corporate computing assets are managed. it's good that he was caught and punished, especially since white-collar crimes are relatively under-prosecuted. i'm more mixed about the severity of punishment--restitution plus 7 years in prison. on one hand, it seems fair relative to the sentence lengths of other crimes, but prison terms seem onerous and overly-punitive overall to me.
- asdff 7y agoI steal a watch, it gets returned, I go to jail. That's more or less been the story since written law. This guy steals 13 million dollars, it gets returned, and you say he shouldn't go to jail?
- nfoz 7y agoSure jail for a day or few maybe. Would cause tremendous discomfort and embarrassment IMO. But years?? For either of these crimes, sounds crazy. I see jails as a way to remove people who could be violent out of society while they can receive sober reflection, counselling, etc. But to toss around an arbitrary number of years for nonviolent offences sounds vindictive and terrifying.
- clairity 7y agoyes, some jail is warranted, but the magnitudes of the crimes make a difference. a few days for a watch. a couple years maybe (what the defense had hoped for) for millions of dollars, because that represents stealing a few dozen person-years of economic output (not to mention the non-monetary aspects).
- Gibbon1 7y agoI rolled that around in my brain for a decade and eventually decided people who commit financial crimes need to have a day in prison tacked onto their sentence for every $1000 they steal. Under that scheme Jeff Davis dies in prison. And that shouldn't be anything we should care about.
- ilamont 7y agoHe would have gotten away with it if it weren't for the HR exec seeing a red flag. Makes you wonder how many other frauds are never discovered. One other thing: These types of face-to-face, "close on a handshake" negotiations are really open to various types of fraud. I was thinking about this when listening to a friend discussing how he had negotiated a $12,000 discount for his child's base college tuition, by talking over the phone with someone in the college admissions office. Or a commercial real-estate deal that I participated in some years ago that involved several rounds of negotiation. If one or both sides of these transactions wanted to extract some financial benefit "on the side," it would be so easy to do it ... which leads me to believe it happens all the time, anti-fraud laws and signed declarations be damned.
- jmull 7y agoIt doesn't sound like his plan to repay the $9 million up-front payment over time according to the original payment schedule is likely to have worked. Now, if he'd restrained himself to the $4.4 million that no one actually knew about, then it really would have come down to an observant HR exec. But, of course, the kind of guy who pulls a scam like that probably doesn't know how to restraint himself.
- zozbot234 7y agoYup, his scheme had plenty of pitfalls, obviously. Which is why people didn't really buy the notion that he was going to pay restitution down the road. Really, the only thing which could explain how someone could come up with something like that is pure complacency and foolish, short-term greed. Reality has a way of catching up with these games; it's not something anyone would want to get involved in otherwise.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y agoI’m willing to bet the overwhelming majority of white collar crime goes undetected. Detection is probably difficult, and the agencies charged with investigating and prosecuting are likely over worked.
- deleted 7y ago
- rb808 7y agoYeah when you drive down some beach resort with the $5m+ homes you have to wonder how many people actually worked for it. With the fraud, corruption and the inheritances it can't be many.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago> fraud, correction, and inheritance One of those things is decidedly not like the others.
- Scoundreller 7y agoYeah, fraudsters and the corrupt had to do at least some work to get where they got.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y agoIt takes some work to keep yourself in the will. Tiffany's getting nothing.
- Scoundreller 7y agoDepends on the country. France doesn't let you disown your children. No matter how much you hate them, they're getting at least half. 75% of it if you have 3 children. Of course you could make sure there's nothing left. A risky bet with their life expectancies.
- user5994461 7y agoIt's figurative only. There are plenty of practical ways to disown your children.
- xienze 7y agoIs the act of trying to leave your life’s work to your family’s next generation really worthy of such scorn?
- mythrwy 7y agoArticle starts like this: "THE MOVING VAN from Sacramento chokes its way through Miami's thick August air" What is it with want-to-be novelists and journalism? Who has time for all that? It's a plague lately in media. Just tell the simple story.
- ForHackernews 7y agoYou can read AP wire stories if you prefer those: https://www.si.com/nba/2019/01/23/kings-executive-jeffrey-david-pleads-guilty-fraud https://www.si.com/nba/2019/01/23/kings-executive-jeffrey-da... > Former executive Jeffrey David pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and identity theft. Just the facts.
- mythrwy 7y agoSomewhere in between this and parent article (but leaning more to this) would be perfect. A little detail is good but these text walls of "A tall slim man he stood in the shade of a very old tree that was greener then an emerald as he took a drag on his cigarette and told me he had known Bob since childhood" get old fast. Am I the only one that doesn't want a screenplay to read about a sequence of events? Or thinks that type of stuff is becoming far too common lately?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- leppr 7y agoIt depends if the goal is mostly to inform or entertain me. For some investigative-type articles about a foreign culture/environment, it can be enjoyable. For news reporting, it's a nuisance.
- ergothus 7y agoRight? I DO have interest in a higher level of detail - how was this uncovered, etc - but the whole article was painful to parse. I also had to keep remembering that "Jeff" and "David" were the same person.
- umanwizard 7y ago> THE MOVING VAN from Sacramento chokes its way through Miami's thick August air. I immediately stop reading articles that start like this, because I don't know how many paragraphs it will go on for.
- CPLX 7y agoIf that's the case you're missing out on quite a bit.
- umanwizard 7y agoI'm okay with missing out on ESPN's attempt to write literary prose.
- ciabattabread 7y agoThen the podcast version of the story’s for you: http://m.espn.com/general/play?id=28114264 http://m.espn.com/general/play?id=28114264
- tabtab 7y agoI too admit I'd like to see a CliffsNotes summary of the trick he pulled off rather than read through a long story-esque narrative. Maybe I'll form "ADHDreadersClub.com" as a startup. I have at least 2 customers here.
- yellowapple 7y agoMake that three. I learned about "Bottom Line Up Front"¹ via an article that popped up here on HN a few weeks (?) ago². I've since made a concerted effort to apply that strategy to all my writing³, and I believe those writing news stories ought to do the same. ---- ¹: For those unfamiliar with BLUF, in short: start with the main point, then layer on further explanation. BLUF's a military term, but it's pretty similar in concept and purpose to writing an abstract in an academic paper, or the SYNOPSIS section of a manpage. ²: https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/ https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/ ³: At least in professional-ish settings, e.g. work emails, reports, documentation, etc.
- rolltiide 7y agoI’ve seen that obsessed accountant type, and I’ve been that obsessed accountant perusing public filings There are lots of discrepancies that dont really need the fireworks Self dealing, contracts awarded, etc If they get paid its fine. Jeff David should have been prosecuted in 2026 on event of non-payment from his unraveled scheme. If everyone felt they were made whole but noticed the external entities then it should have just garnered a slow upward headnod from the current executives saying “What a G, my G, ya feel”
- FooHentai 7y agoI found what you're saying a bit hard to parse but it seems to amount to 'this kind of activity should be allowed'. Can't agree with that. If anything, white-collar fraud like this is under-prosecuted, and more effort should be put towards preventing and detecting it.
- choward 7y agoI can't tell if you're trolling or not. But if not, this is a terrible way to think: It's okay to steal and gamble with someone else's money as long as you become rich enough to pay it back? Only if you lose more money than you steal do you belong in jail? Chances are that you will make money over time since the economy grows over time. But only wealthy white collar people should get this opportunity to make interest off money that isn't theirs, right?
- rosybox 7y agoThe obliviousness of what was facing him after learning the FBI was on to him is mind blowing. He thought he could pay it all back and be fine? His wife sticking by him this whole time is also amazing to me. Why? He's a crook. He's ruined her and their children's life. He doesn't deserve them.
- joering2 7y agoYou never been truly loved by a spouse?
- catalogia 7y ago> His wife sticking by him this whole time is also amazing to me. Why? He's a crook. Greater scoundrels than him have been loved..
- vkou 7y ago> The obliviousness of what was facing him after learning the FBI was on to him is mind blowing. He thought he could pay it all back and be fine? I mean, it did work out. Guy will be out of prison in ~3-4 years. That's about 27 too few, given how we sentence people, but them's the breaks... > His wife sticking by him this whole time is also amazing to me. Blood runs thicker than water.
- munificent 7y ago> Blood runs thicker than water. Just FYI, that aphorism does not apply in this case. That is, unless David is a blood relative of his wife, in which case I guess he's got other problems...
- zozbot234 7y ago> Just FYI, that aphorism does not apply in this case. But it just might apply in this [B]ase. /s
- DuskStar 7y ago"Bonds forged of blood are thicker than the waters of the womb" is the original, I believe. And it basically meant that people you fought besides were closer than literal family. Not exactly the meaning of the modern version, though.
- throwaway9980 7y agoReading this I couldn’t help marveling at how poorly constructed the incentive structure must have been. This guy was basically leaving millions of dollars on the table until he realized he could take the money for himself. How badly was his commission compensation setup so that he would turn to a life of crime rather than close the extra millions and cash the commission check?
- gamblor956 7y agoAccording to other articles, his annual take-home was about $360k.
- ubercow13 7y agoIs providing a disincentive for wire fraud really something that should be driving any compensation package?
- cylinder 7y agoHe doesn't own the asset which draws the sale. He's just a guy who talks on the phone to people. It's not like without him the arena goes unnamed.
- AnimalMuppet 7y agoWow. I feel bad for his wife.
- taurath 7y agoIts hard for me to understand how someone could accept any explanation for being able to purchase a $8.8m house on a "low 6 figures" salary. To me thats the most idiotic thing - the guy just flat out SPENT the money, all likely in one sum.
- hanniabu 7y agoHe can just say he bought a bunch of bitcoin in 2016 with his own money that he never told her about >.<
- Haydos585x2 7y agoI used to work in retail and one of the managers ended up stealing about $350,000 cash from the store. Her partner worked at the same store and claimed that he didn't know anything about the situation but I just don't know how a spouse could have that much extra money, multiple years of their salaries and not realise that either this person is amazing with finances or something fishy is going on.
- klyrs 7y agoI worked at a company where the receptionist was married to one of two salesmen. She was feeding her husband leads, depriving the other guy. They were both 19 or 20, and he bought a brand-new Porsche, which maybe should have been a clue... but they were cute, naive (hah, so we thought), Mormon kids -- who would suspect them? Eventually, they got greedy and started scumming the other guy's accounts. When one of those accounts was a personal friend of the original salesman, it all blew up. Personally, I see no reason to assume the wife didn't know. Presumption of innocence is the duty of our courts. And fwiw, I don't presume she's guilty, either.
- ip26 7y agoWho says she knew what his salary was?
- m3kw9 7y agoThe classic take a cut at the middle
- throw7 7y agoThe problem is identified when Jeff realizes that _no_ _one_ _will_ _know_. The problem is one of character.
- C1sc0cat 7y agoThis is pro sports there are a lot of shady people, the NBA is a lot cleaner that football is (soccer)
- Aloha 7y agoI don't think of ESPN and high quality in depth reporting in the same thought - perhaps I should be.
- slg 7y agoWith the death of Deadspin and the hollowing out of Sports Illustrated over the last month or so, they are one of the few remaining places that will do this type of in depth sports reporting. However I will point out the target of this piece is not a league, team, player, or anyone that ESPN would have to be afraid of pissing off.
- logjammin 7y agoYou're right about this, of course, but ESPN has stuff of this quality on a pretty darn slow drip given the talent they have and the even greater talent they could afford if they decided to make quality investigative / long form stuff a real priority. I suspect the fact that they do it at all is that it's some enlightened manager's little feifdom that they protect and that it'll be gone as soon as that person finds another gig or retires. I doubt that dyed-in-the-wool corporate types are in love with these operations, as sad as it is.
- casefields 7y agoIn depth investigations like this are released by ESPN once, sometimes twice a month. Sorta rare, but they do still do some good journalism on occasion.
- fhbdukfrh 7y agoThey had a recent story on nhl team dentists that was a good read posted on HN as well
- duxup 7y agoI'm always surprised by people's willingness to leave so much personal information on a work computer. In this case actually leaving the breadcrumbs there.
- tenant 7y agoWhat would have happened to him had he had qualms of conscience before he was caught? If he'd owned up and paid the money back he'd probably have just gotten a lighter sentence.
- cylinder 7y agoAmazing the lack of financial controls. You have the salesman drawing up his own invoices and payment instructions! As someone who's seen the inside of pro sports teams, most of them are a complete mess.
- jshaqaw 7y agoThe end of the article where David is the pauper despite making half a million a year hit home. Perspectives get so warped around wealth. I once worked with a guy making $500k/year despite relatively low skills and education because he was in the right place at the right time on Wall Street. But he fell in with a social crowd of people with true wealth and his ego turned out to be a dark monster. The guy ended up spending half a decade in prison after stealing millions to try and keep up appearances with that crowd.