Felony fraud charges were filed against the North American Football League’s chairman Christopher White of Murfreesboro Tuesday by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office with assistance by Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
White, 46, of Burrows Lane was charged with grand theft in the first degree (over $100,000) and two counts of fraud and his wife, Tracy, 47, was charged with theft (between $20,000 to $100,000) by Bay County Sheriff’s Detective Dennis Rozzier.
The NAFL was supposed open its inaugural season in 2016 with eight teams playing a spring schedule with expansion plans to 16 teams throughout the U.S. One of the teams was named the Memphis Kings.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported detectives concluded a 15-month investigation with the arrests of the Whites.
The couple is suspected of having defrauded investors who were convinced to give them hundreds of thousands of dollars to own part of a new national football league and a production company that, the suspects claimed, would rival ESPN.
A victim filed a complaint with the BCSO in February 2016. She stated she met Christopher White online in 2010 and began a relationship with him.
He solicited her to invest in his business venture called the North American Football League and a production company associated with the League which would cover games and players like, he said, “ESPN covers the NFL.”
White claimed to have $400 million dollars in escrow to finance the league and offered the victim an opportunity to be a part of the production company, Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Christopher White created a website with digital logos for the league and teams. White claimed he played, and later coached, for the league and had won a championship.
He wore a ring he claimed he received for winning a championship game in the league. BCSO investigators believe White used these items as “props” to gain trust and get money from investors.
By the end of 2013 and early 2014, the victim had given White $150,000 and had been convinced to lease equipment in her name for him, BCSO reported.
Within 12 months, in early 2015, White informed her that the league and production company had folded. White left Florida for Murfreesboro.
According to the victim, White and his wife took all computer and production equipment with them that had been purchased with her money or leased by her.
Investigators with the BCSO Financial Crimes Unit conducted the investigation and obtained arrest warrants for Christopher and Tracy Beth White.
Investigators were able to identify and locate additional victims from other parts of the country that, it is believed, were also scammed by Christopher White.
Rozzier contacted Rutherford Sheriff’s Detectives Joe Duncan and Steve Craig to arrest the couple. Craig wrote a warrant allowing Rozzier, the Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to search the home for evidence.
In addition to the Florida charges, Duncan arrested the couple on fugitive from justice charges. They were being held without bond at Rutherford County Adult Detention Center. A hearing is set June 14 in General Sessions Court.
North American Football League chair, wife arrested in Murfreesboro
