Former NFL Player Sentenced to Prison for Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme and Tax Evasion

JACKSON, MS—Jeffrey Lynn Walker, 47, of Franklin, Tennessee, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to serve a total of 45 months in federal prison for wire fraud and tax evasion, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen, and Special Agent in Charge James C. Lee of IRS Criminal Investigation New Orleans Field Office announced. Walker was also ordered to pay $2,045,000 in restitution, and a money judgment of forfeiture was ordered in the amount of $2,045,000.

Walker, a former NFL football player who previously resided in Madison County, Mississippi, pled guilty in October, 2011, to his involvement in a scheme to defraud and obtain approximately $2.2 million from investors in Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, and Arizona by making false representations relating to a resort project in China being developed by Charter Resources International. Walker executed joint venture agreements between investors and companies in which he held an interest to share in profits generated from the sale of estate homes, town homes, and patio homes in the China resort. The investors made interstate bank transfers and Walker deposited those funds into Sterling Group Holdings, Inc.’s bank account in Las Vegas, Nevada. He would then wire transfer portions of those funds from the bank account in Las Vegas, Nevada to his personal bank account in Madison, Mississippi and convert portions of those funds to his own personal use, purchasing four-wheelers, a luxury conversion van, and a Hummer H-2 vehicle. Walker also admitted making false declarations to the Internal Revenue Service, through which he failed to report all of his taxable income for the year 2006.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jerry Rushing and Carla J. Clark. The investigation was conducted by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation.