Former NFL wide receiver Irving Fryar and his 74-year-old mother were convicted Friday of conspiring to defraud financial institutions out of more than $1.2 million, following a three-week trial in Burlington County Superior Court.
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Fryar, whose 16-year football career included a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his mother Allene McGhee were found guilty by a jury on second-degree charges of conspiracy and theft by deception in connection with a series of six home equity loans McGhee took out on her Willingboro home.
This verdict ensures that Mr. Fryar and his mother will face substantial prison time,” Hoffman said in a statement. “Fryar had an illustrious career in professional football and became the pastor of a church, but those things don’t mitigate the fact that he and his mother engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme to defraud seven banks of more than one million dollars.”
McGhee applied for five of the loans totaling $840,000 within a six-day period to ensure each bank was unaware of the existence of other home equity loans on the property.
McGhee also took out a $414,000 mortgage loan on Fryar’s Springfield home, which is also owned in McGhee’s name. Fryar spent or received more than $200,000 of the loaned funds, authorities said.
The attorneys for Fryar and McGee argued they were victims of a conniving financial broker who ran the scheme.
Fryar and McGee were also convicted of falsifying wage and employment information on the loan applications, which stated McGhee earned a high salary as an employee for the Mount Holly church Fryar founded and ran, the New Jerusalem House of God.
Both are scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 2, and face five to 10 years in state prison, in addition to a fine of up to $150,000.
