Washington Commanders May Have Engaged In Unlawful Conduct Congress Tells Ftc

The 20-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post, recently describes the claims of Jason Friedman, a former vice president of sales and customer service who worked for the franchise for 24 years. The letter says Friedman told committee members that the team kept “two sets of books,” including a set of financial records used to undercut some NFL ticket revenue. The letter states that the group’s financial irregularities may have been extended to tickets registered in the name of Commissioner Roger Goodell. He cites evidence that the team’s earnings through these practices were internally known as ‘juice’, and describes in detail allegations that Governors misappropriated that income from a Navy-Notre Dame college football match in FedEx Field. or a Kenny Chesney concert not to be part of the NFL’s revenue pool. Allegations of financial misconduct came to light as the committee examined documents and interviewed witnesses during its investigation into the team’s workplace and the NFL handling of the matter. The group has generally denied such allegations and the oversight committee has not verified them beyond the information presented in the letter. “Given the power of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate fraudulent or misleading business practices, we provide the information and documents disclosed by the Commission for your review to determine if Governors have violated any provisions of the FTC Act. and if further actions are justified “, it is mentioned in the letter of the committee. “We urge you to take any other action you deem necessary to ensure that all funds are returned to their rightful owners and that those responsible are held accountable for their conduct.” Governors did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s letter. Late last month, the group said it had not committed any financial irregularities. “The team categorically rejects any suggestion of financial inadequacy of any kind at any time,” the governors said in a statement. “We follow strict internal procedures that comply with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally recognized independent auditing firm and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL. We continue to cooperate fully with the work of the Commission. “ The letter was signed by Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y), chair of the committee, and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, and addressed to the FTC chair. Lina M. Khan. Copied to Republican committee leaders Goodell and Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) of Virginia, Brian E. Frosh (D) of Maryland and Karl A. Racine (D) of DC “We are writing to share information about relevant business practices from Washington Governors that were uncovered during the Commission’s ongoing investigation into team misconduct in the workplace,” the letter said. “The information received by the Commission, including emails, documents and statements from former officials, suggests that senior management and team owner Daniel Snyder may have been involved in a problematic, long-term and potentially illicit pattern of financial behavior of the fans of the team and the National Football League (NFL). “ The NFL issued a statement on Tuesday. “We continue to work with the SC and have provided more than 210,000 pages of documents,” said spokesman Brian McCarthy. “The NFL has hired former SEC President Mary Jo White to reconsider the serious issues raised by the commission.” A Republican Rep. ». Republicans will provide the FTC with “an additional framework to ensure that they have the full story when evaluating the last letter from the Democrats and not just one-sided, selected information,” the spokesman said. Friedman’s lawyer, Lisa Banks, called the Republicans “proven false” and added in an email: “Diversion and discrediting will not prove to be an effective defense to these allegations.” Eight days ago, the Governors said in a statement that “there was absolutely no withholding of ticket revenue at any time by the Governors”, adding that anyone who testified alleging withholding revenue had committed a fraud, clear and simple. ” This led Banks to say that the team had “defamed” Friedman. Banks and fellow lawyer Debra Katz described Tuesday’s letter as “condemnatory” and said in a statement: , other NFL team owners and fans “. The commission said in a letter that it had interviewed Friedman on March 14. Friedman “provided a detailed description of Commanders’ toxic work environment, culture of impunity, and lack of accountability on the part of Executives” and “also described a pattern of deep concern for business practices led by senior executives, including “, The letter states. Friedman “provided the Commission with information and documents indicating that Governors regularly withheld security deposits that should have been returned to customers who had purchased multi-year season tickets for certain positions, referred to as seat leases,” according to the letter. Friedman told the committee that “team executives asked employees to set up roadblocks to prevent customers from taking the security deposits they owed – effectively allowing the team to keep that money,” the letter said. Governors refuse to withhold revenue. The lawyer claims that evidence was presented. According to the letter, Friedman told the committee that the team would not accept refund requests via email and failed to inform all tenants of a post-2000 change that no longer requires security deposits for new club hire agreements. Friedman told the committee that some customers had forgotten their deposits or, in the case of corporate accounts, might have taken over the account without knowing how to claim a refund. “So basically, the team is holding these security deposits, many of which will have to be back in the hands of clients or former clients,” Friedman told the commission, according to Tuesday’s letter. According to the letter, Friedman told the committee that, at one point, the team had “tried to address as passively as possible all those who had a security deposit in the file that could be returned to one of the three local jurisdictions” in Maryland. , Virginia or DC, based on applicable law in each location. But even then, the group “deliberately created additional barriers to reduce the likelihood that tenants would follow through” by demanding a refund letter, Friedman said in a letter to the commission. The committee’s letter states that, since July 2016, based on Friedman’s interview and the documents he provided to the committee, “the team had non-refundable security deposits for ‘approximately 2,000 accounts’ belonging to total customers and fans.” about $ 5 million. ” ” Some team executives used the term “juice” to refer to revenue that was intentionally misappropriated in the franchise’s accounting system and attributed to unrelated events, the letter said, Friedman told the committee. According to the letter, Friedman testified that Snyder and Mitch Gershman, then the team’s chief operating officer, would instruct him to “identify security deposits in inactive accounts where, in my estimation, the customer is likely to show up and request The return of the deposit is as close to zero as possible and then return the security deposit to the system and convert the credit that would then be in the customer’s account into juice. “ Such allocations will be made in part to avoid contributions to the local revenue pool that NFL teams have to share with the league and other franchises, Friedman told the committee. Friedman told the committee that the practice “occurred over several years” and “was done under the directive and in Mr Snyder’s favor”, the letter said. It ended around 2017, Friedman told the committee, after Snyder ordered him to quit through Stephen Choi, the team’s former chief financial officer. Gershman and Choi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Congress is investigating allegations of financial misconduct by Governors According to the letter, Friedman told the committee that he had received instructions from Choi: “Dan does not want us to put it on anymore. Just leave it alone. Do not touch any of the money. Do not try to return it to customers, do not try to turn it into juice, just leave it alone. ” Frosh, the attorney general of Maryland, described the way the group is described as treating season ticket holders as “worrying”. “If what Mr. Friedman described is accurate,” Frosh said in an interview, “it could be a violation …