Dwight Freeney calls Bank of America 'manipulative' amid lawsuit
In an interview with Fortune, free agent outisde linebacker Dwight Freeney accused Bank of America of sweeping fraudulent circumstances under the rug and and called the bank "manipulative."
Freeney announced in late March that he was suing Bank of America for $20 million, seeking relief for counts including conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty, according to Fortune.
"Athletes, we have targets on our backs from day one," Freeney said. "We’re 21 or 22, with millions of dollars, no experience with managing our money. Some of us make bad decisions. I decided, screw all of that, let me put my money into one of the biggest banks there is, and I’ll trust them, because they have things in place where if something like this does occur, you can still be made whole. But obviously I guess I was wrong."
Freeney worked with a Bank of America financial adviser named Eva Weinberg, who quit the company without notifying Freeney and allegedly stole $9 million of his money. A Bank of America spokesperson told Fortune that the company does not "take on responsibility for a former employee’s actions when they’re no longer with the bank.”
• Chargers' Dwight Freeney suing Bank of America for fraud
"We’re not even talking about, 'Is she guilty or not, did she do wrong?'" Freeney said. "She did wrongdoing, and she got prison time for it. When she left the bank, it wasn’t made clear to me. I got manipulated. They’re responsible. Now, are they going to do anything to make me whole? They’re pretty much saying no."
Freeney said he thinks the bank should take responsibility for its former employee's actions.
"Now the bank is trying to sweep things under the rug and act as if it never happened," he said. "They haven’t even apologized or tried to make things right. I gave them time to try and figure this out and they have been pretty much like, “Whatever, we’re a bank, it doesn’t matter to us.” [He laughs.] I think it’s manipulative."
A 13-year veteran and seven-time Pro Bowler with the Indianapolis Colts, Freeney most recently played two seasons for the San Diego Chargers. In 2014 he appeared in every game, tallying 3.5 sacks. He said he hopes to be picked up for the 2015 season.
Freeney's 111.5 career sacks ranks 20th all-time.
• KING: How Winston became the Buccaneers' No. 1 hope
- Alex Putterman
