Lawsuit launched after scammer posing as NFL star Xavier McKinney stole $4.4m

A US sports industry loan broker is being sued after allegedly not performing satisfactory due diligence in a deal that turned out to be a scam

A lender to professional athletes wired $4.375m to a borrower it thought was Green Bay Packers star Xavier McKinney, only to learn months later it had allegedly been scammed by someone impersonating the player. The news is contained in Aliya Sports Finance Fund’s (ASFF) lawsuit against a longtime US sports industry loan broker, Sure Sports, for allegedly not performing satisfactory due diligence when it introduced what turned out to be apparently a fake McKinney to the lender. According to court papers, the FBI is probing the transaction.

Aliya, whose parent company is an investor in Reading FC, filed the lawsuit a year ago in state court in Florida, where both Sure Sports and Aliya are headquartered. The case is scheduled for a three-week trial beginning on 13 July.