A Maryland man who has managed professional basketball players and boxers since 1999 has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud charges.
Nathan A. Peake, 40, entered a plea of guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. He has managed pro basketball players and boxers since 1999 under the name Peake Management Group Inc. Peake did not file income tax returns from 2000 through 2007, despite earning significant amounts of income. He admitted to evading in excess of $1 million in income taxes.
Between 2000 and 2007, Peake also diverted approximately $5.8 million in management and agent fees from his business to his personal bank accounts or commercial bank accounts, which he controlled in names other than the name of his management group. Peake also admitted to misappropriating proceeds from a $3.5 million commercial line of credit that one of his client athletes guaranteed and ultimately paid off; paying himself and his wife out of the commercial bank accounts that he controlled in names other than his business’s.
He used the cash to pay personal and business expenses, and paid personal expenses with business receipts. Peake typically withdrew the cash in amounts less than $10,000 because an amount greater than $10,000 would have required his bank to file currency transaction reports.
In addition, Peake and others conspired to provide false information to several mortgage lenders over a nine-year period regarding his employment, income, rental receipts and obligations to the federal government. This included fabricated letters that falsely represented that he had filed his federal income tax returns, reporting his self employment wages, which had been reviewed by a CPA.
Peake Management Group has managed basketball players such as Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors; Steve Francis, who formerly played for the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, and Houston Rockets; and Ty Lawson of the Denver Nuggets. Boxing clients include heavyweight Tony Thompson.
Judge Ricardo M. Urbina has set a sentencing date of Aug. 2. Peake faces up to 10 years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines, the likely range is a prison term of 41 to 51 months.
A co-defendant in the case, Gregory L. McCormick, is awaiting trial on charges including conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.
