A money manager who worked for the NBA players union was busted yesterday for allegedly faking a dead lawyer’s signature to obtain a multimillion-dollar contract extension for himself.
Joseph Lombardo, 72, founder of Prim Capital in Cleveland, forged the signature of late union lawyer Gary Hall to give himself a $3 million contract deal with the National Basketball Players Association, court papers say.
The bogus five-year contract doubled Lombardo’s annual pay to $602,000, the Manhattan US attorney said.
The generous phony offer also included a provision that said it could not be canceled, according to the feds.
The money manager allegedly tried to pen the contract after he became embroiled in a scandal that ousted the executive director of the players union, Billy Hunter.
Hunter, whose son, Todd, works at Lombardo’s firm, was unanimously voted out of his job in February.
Lombardo allegedly produced the document in January after learning about the impending release of a scathing report that blasted Hunter for financial irregularities, including hiring family members and friends.
Although Lombardo’s company is based in Ohio, he was indicted after a grand jury looked at the case in New York, where the union is headquartered.
Lombardo was charged with wire fraud, attempted mail fraud and obstruction of justice.
One of his employees, Carolyn Kaufman, was also charged with obstruction for allegedly lying to a grand jury.