Author: Laura Wainman, Darren Haynes, Adam Longo (WUSA 9)
WASHINGTON — In a new letter addressed to the Federal Trade Commission, members of a Congressional committee are alleging “concerning business practices” by the Washington Commanders and owner Dan Snyder after reviewing thousands of pages of documents testifying to workplace misconduct. Now, the committee handling the investigation believes senior executives may have defrauded fans as well as the NFL.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been investigating the Washington Commanders for months, related to the team’s alleged toxic workplace culture, including allegations of sexual harassment by former employees. A 20-page letter sent to the FTC Tuesday by the leaders of the Committee on Oversight and Reform claims that the Commanders withheld up to $5 million in refundable deposits from more than 2,000 season ticket holders and hid money that should’ve been shared with the league.
“Evidence obtained by the Committee, including emails, documents, and statements from former employees, indicate senior executives and the team’s owner, Daniel Snyder, may have engaged in a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct that victimized thousands of team fans and the National Football League (NFL),” the letter begins.
The letter goes on to allege that the Commanders underreported ticket revenue and kept two sets of financial books in order to hide funds owed to the NFL. The allegations are largely based on information coming from former Commanders sales executive Jason Friedman, who worked with the team for 24 years.
“The team through our roller coaster were—we were on top of NFL attendance and revenues from 1997 to 2005 or 2006, and then things started to slowly go downhill,” Friedman is quoted in the letter. “And some of these practices really started when things started to get a little tougher for the team financially.”
Friedman claims the “deceptive practices” began in 2009. Read more at WUSA 9.
