A former North Carolina State football player admitted this week to bribing college athletes in conjunction with a complex money laundering scheme.
Erik Leak, 41, who was recently sentenced to prison for Medicaid fraud, admitted in a plea report that he and other unidentified co-conspirators transferred money from Nature’s Reflections, the mental health services business at the heart of the Medicaid fraud, to Hot Shot Sports, a sports management company.
According to The News & Observer, Leak operated the scheme from 2012 to “at least” 2015. In that time he “provided and caused to be provided things of value to student-athletes, and in at least one instance a student-athlete’s family member, to influence those student-athletes to retain the services of Hot Shots and others affiliated with Hot Shots.”
The report states that the bribes included “shoes, clothes, transportation, gas, loans, food and entertainment, hotel rooms, the use of vehicles, and cash. On numerous occasions, Leak engaged, and caused others to engage in, in financial transactions, including the sending of interstate wires via Western Union, of funds to student-athletes and the payment of United States currency to student-athletes.”
It is unknown when Leak will be charged or what penalties he would face for federal conspiracy to commit promotional money laundering.
