Scammer Took an NBA Star for $7M with Fake WNBA Deal—Now He’s Paying the Price

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A man in Georgia was sentenced to 12 years in jail for scamming millions of dollars from a potential basketball Hall of Famer.

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard testified in court that he gave Calvin Darden Jr. $7 million, thinking it was an investment toward the purchase of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

Howard, an eight-time All-Star, then learned Darden was not an owner of the team when ESPN reported the team had been sold to an investor group.

Prosecutors said Darden and a sports agent also conned ex-NBA player Chandler Parsons into sending $1 million that was supposed to aid in the development of James Wiseman, who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors as the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

But the two didn’t know Wiseman, and the player never agreed to be represented by the agent as they claimed to Parsons. Wiseman last played for the Indiana Pacers before being traded to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him earlier this year.

A Manhattan federal court judge on Thursday ordered Darden to forfeit $8 million and several luxury items he acquired with his ill-gotten gains, including a $3.7 million Atlanta mansion, $600,000 in artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Lamborghini and a Rolls-Royce.

Darden was convicted by a jury in October of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering charges.

He was previously sentenced to a year in federal prison in New York for impersonating his father, Cal Darden, a former executive at Atlanta-based United Parcel Service, in a failed bid to buy Maxim magazine.

The Atlanta Dream were once co-owned by former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, but she was pressured to sell after clashing with players over her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives.

Howard was the first pick of the 2004 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.