Sources: Feds investigating Commanders' finances

The U.S. attorney's bureau successful the Eastern District of Virginia has opened a transgression probe into allegations that the Washington Commanders engaged successful fiscal improprieties, 2 sources acquainted with the substance confirmed to ESPN connected Wednesday.

The sources said prosecutors are focused connected respective areas, and that the enquiry was triggered by a missive the House Committee connected Oversight and Reform sent to the Federal Trade Commission and respective attorneys wide successful April that alleged deceptive concern practices. Attorneys wide successful Virginia and Washington, D.C., besides are investigating allegations of fiscal impropriety.

Team spokeswoman Jean Medina did not instantly remark but provided a connection from lawyer John Brownlee of Holland & Knight, who represents the Commanders.

"It is not astonishing that ESPN is publishing much falsehoods based solely connected anonymous sources -- fixed today's announcement," the connection said. "...We are assured that, aft these agencies person had a accidental to reappraisal the documents and implicit their work, they volition travel to the aforesaid decision arsenic the team's interior reappraisal -- that these allegations are simply untrue."

Asked Wednesday if the league is alert of the national transgression investigation, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said: "We volition diminution comment."

"The NFL successful April engaged erstwhile SEC seat Mary Jo White to look into this matter," McCarthy said. "The reappraisal is ongoing."

White is starring the NFL's 2nd probe into matters involving alleged intersexual misconduct successful Snyder's organization, including the owner's ain alleged intersexual battle of a pistillate connected his level successful April 2009. It's not wide erstwhile White volition wrapper up. The archetypal investigation, led by Beth Wilkinson, resulted successful a $10 cardinal good and a suspension for Snyder but produced nary written report.

The U.S. attorney's bureau did not respond to a petition for comment, and the FTC declined to comment.

The House committee said successful its missive to the FTC that it recovered grounds of deceptive concern signifier implicit the span of much than a decade, including withholding summons gross from visiting teams and refundable deposits from fans. The committee outlined done the grounds of erstwhile employees and entree to emails and documents a signifier of fiscal impropriety by proprietor Dan Snyder and squad executives. At 1 constituent successful 2016, the squad retained up to $5 cardinal from 2,000 season-ticket holders portion besides concealing sharable gross from the league, according to the committee.

One erstwhile worker testified earlier Congress, saying the squad had 2 abstracted fiscal books: 1 with underreported summons gross that went to the NFL and the full, implicit picture. According to testimony, Snyder was alert of the numbers shared with the league portion besides being privy to the existent data. The concern signifier was known arsenic "juice" wrong Washington's beforehand office.

According to different testimony, fiscal misconduct included making it intentionally hard for season-ticket holders to recoup refundable deposit money, counting immoderate of those leftover funds arsenic a antithetic benignant of gross that doesn't request to beryllium shared with the league, and shifting wealth from summons income for NFL games to different events astatine FedEx Field arsenic a mode of hiding that wealth from the league. The committee successful the missive shared spreadsheet information showing grounds of deposits that were not returned. Citing emails and the grounds of Jason Friedman, a longtime vice president of income and lawsuit service, the missive said summons income from Washington games were shifted to a 2013 Kenny Chesney performance and a 2014 Navy-Notre Dame assemblage shot crippled arsenic a mode to "juice" gross and support it disconnected the books shared with the NFL.

"The Washington Commanders person afloat cooperated with national and authorities investigators since the House Oversight Review Committee sent its missive to the FTC connected April 12, 2022 -- present astir 7 months ago," the connection from Brownlee said. "The squad has produced tens of thousands of records successful effect to the requests. The investigations, which ESPN's anonymous sources person mischaracterized, are premised connected the aforesaid baseless allegations made by a disgruntled erstwhile employee, Jason Friedman, who besides is represented by the instrumentality steadfast of Katz Banks."

Also connected Wednesday, Dan and Tanya Snyder announced that they person hired Bank of America Securities to research imaginable transactions involving the team. It's not wide what those transactions mightiness be, whether it was the merchantability of the squad oregon they are pursuing number partners.

ESPN elder writers Seth Wickersham and Tisha Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.