Trading an NFL career for prison life
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Tax
Recently, former NFL start Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy while sitting in a Kansas prison. In 2006, Vick made almost $15 million. Now he makes next to nothing working in prison. He bankruptcy filing shows $16 million in assets, but over $20 million owed to creditors. Vick wasted a whopping $18 million over two years, and forensic accountants had to be hired to find out just where all the money went.What did with the money: Invested in bad business deals like a car rental company, a liquor store, and a restaurant, hired a multitude of financial advisers, gave money away to family members, bought multiple houses and cars, gave extravagant gifts to others, and wrote out lots of checks to "cash." Among the things he has lost: homes, farms, yachts, a bunch of vehicles, and a race horse. The Atlanta Falcons want millions of dollars back from him, and the taxing authorities want $1 million from him for unpaid taxes and interest.
So was it all worth it? Was it worth throwing away a lucrative career to torture some dogs for sport? I suspect not. Vick intends to play football when he gets out of prison, with his release scheduled for July 20. He has told the bankruptcy court he thinks he can still make a lot of money as an NFL quarterback. I'm not sure there's any team out there willing to take a chance on him. He hasn't played in a long time, and may not be physically ready. Even if he is, what team wants the negative reaction from fans for bringing him on?
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
Money Clips
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-17-2008 @ 2:11PM
FB said...
".....hired a multitude of financial advisors" ?? Must have been Merrill Lynch & Friends
WORRIED ABOUT TRAILER THEFT?? you need:
http://www.carrythebigstick.com
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11-17-2008 @ 3:06PM
KaShanta said...
Interesting article, however, several franchises have expressed an interest in Vick, both pro and arena football. Please check all FACTS and sources before posting an article on someone.
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11-17-2008 @ 3:08PM
Tracy Coenen said...
Expressing interest isn't the same as having a contract in place.
11-17-2008 @ 2:30PM
amyshannoncook said...
Yeh like he deserves a break! The man is a piece of garbage doing this to poor animals. So what he lost his valuables. He deserved it after what he did to the helpless animals! He should not get hired by ANY football team!
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11-17-2008 @ 2:30PM
johnnyblog said...
I think he took financial planning advice from Mike Tyson!
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11-17-2008 @ 3:07PM
Clewis said...
I know what he did was wrong. I just don't understand why we legalized hunting carabou, deer and other wild animals. Are there lives less significant than than dogs. His sentence seems a bit steep. I guess they had to make an example out of somebody. We must learn to be more forgiving. Each of us has had the need to be forgiven for one reason or another. The person put in that position of forgiving was just as hurt as these dogs were. Pray for him. He must have had some real issues to even be involved in such a thing.
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11-17-2008 @ 3:10PM
Victoria said...
At least Vick's dogs are getting some love now with the a winery whose bottles now have the faces of the dog adorning the bottles. Ten percent of each sale goes to Best Friends. The money will be used to oppose dog fighting around the country and to fight laws that target specific dog breeds
http://news.aol.com/article/rescued-vick-dogs-grace-wine-labels/248410
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11-17-2008 @ 3:36PM
Trey said...
He was made an example of as somebody had it out for him not to mention having terrible friends. You can clearly see that. Leonard Little killed a man driving drunk and nothing happened to him. Sarah Palin kills moose along with the animals that prey on the moose. William Shatner killed a person and got off scott free. That's just to name a quick few. The outcry by the public and the media was nowhere as severe as it was for Vick. Countless people have done worse things but for some reason everybody jumped on the send Vick to Jail bandwagon. What he did was wrong and illegal but other athletes, celebrities and people in the public light have done far worse. Micahle Vick didn't start dogfighting as it is a redneck southern sport and he won't be the last but what the hell lets ignore that fact and act like it did! Anytime a minority commits a crime that a white commits the minority is always made the example and thats pure prejudice and racism based on the unequal punishment. Get off your high horse folks.
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