HARRISBURG, PA -- A former National Football League player was arrested after allegedly stealing a $400,000 loan that was expected to be used to open a fitness club.
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office charged Lee Woodall for misusing a loan he received from the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority (PMBDA) that was intended for the opening of the club in Chester County (PA). The office says Woodall used the loan for personal expenses.
Attorney General Tom Corbett said the terms of the loan agreement required Woodall to purchase specific items of fitness equipment. It also stipulated that the PMBDA would have security interest in that equipment.
Upon receiving the money in June 2005, Woodall had spent almost all of the money by April 2006 on airline tickets, hotels, home furnishings, cars and other personal uses, according to the criminal complaint. No fitness facility had been opened.
Also, Woodall did not make loan payments and did not keep the PMBDA informed about the progress of the gym, according to the complaint.
Woodall was arraigned and later released on $100,000 bail. He was charged with one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, a third-degree felony. A preliminary hearing is set for April 22.
Woodall played eight seasons in the NFL from 1994 to 2001 for the San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.