Authorities have charged a Louisiana couple with pretending to be elite collegiate football and basketball stars for years in order to steal millions of dollars. They allegedly pretended to be the athletes in order to obtain loans in their names.
Albert Paul Weber, 42, and Cyntrelle Lash, 39, allegedly used multiple bank accounts to launder almost $3.5 million, according to authorities. The two had been conducting the scam since 2016, according to prosecutors.
“As alleged in court documents, Weber, Lash, and their coconspirators impersonated athletes who were on the cusp of being drafted by NBA and NFL teams and paid multimillion dollar contracts,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, wrote in a press release announced the charges. “At least as early as 2016, Weber and Lash stole the identities of the athletes, their family members, and others to defraud businesspeople and lenders who believed they were dealing with the athletes themselves.”
The couple allegedly impersonated Cam Ward and Leonard Fournette
According to NOLA.com, two of the athletes Weber and Lash pretended to be were Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward and former LSU star Leonard Fournette. The pair allegedly asked investors for money for large “bridge loans” they claimed would cover the living, training, and debt expenses of star athletes as they prepared to leave college and join the NFL and the NBA.
“In May of 2025, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Weber and Lash for one instance of this scheme in which Weber and Lash were caught using fake identification to sign notarized documents for loans for an athlete,” the statement continued. “After they were released on bond, Weber began a new part of the scheme to defraud athletes involving trips overseas for basketball players. When Weber’s victims confronted him about defrauding them by keeping money he took for trips that never happened, Weber threatened the victims, demanded more money, and warned them against talking to others about his scheme.”
Prosecutors charged Weber and Lash with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They also charged Weber with six counts of aggravated identity theft and interstate transmission of a threat. Additionally, they charged Lash with aggravated identity theft.
Last month, authorities charged former Alabama defensive lineman Luther Davis with impersonating three NFL players as part of a nearly $20 million fraud scheme. He, along with a partner, allegedly obtained at least thirteen fraudulent loans totaling more than $19,845,000 by impersonating NFL tight end David Njoku, Xavier McKinney of the Green Bay Packers, and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons.