Report: Commanders Being Investigated by Feds Over Alleged Financial Improprieties

The Washington Commanders are being investigated by the US attorney's office in Virginia.

According to Don Van Natta Jr., the office opened the investigation after allegations of financial improprieties were made. The team is being investigated by attorneys general in Virginia and D.C.

In April, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and different attorneys general accusing them of deceiving businesses over the course of a decade.

Some of the evidence came from the testimony of former team employees.

The practice was referred to as "juice" inside the team office with one book holding true financial records and the other showing unreported ticket revenue that was presented to the league.

The team made it difficult for season-ticket holders to recover deposit money and shifted money from Commanders games to other events at FedEx Field in order to hide it from the league and revenue sharing practices.

John Brownlee, an attorney for the team, said in a statement that the allegations are false and that they were based on anonymous sources.

Since the April letter, the team has cooperated with investigators and produced tens of thousands of records in response to requests.

The Commanders have faced many investigations into their workplace culture. According to Van Natta, attorney Mary Jo White is currently investigating the allegations of sexual assault against the team.

Washington hired an attorney in 2020 to look at the workplace culture. The team's workplace environment was found to be a breeding ground for sexual harassment, as well as other forms of discrimination.

The team was fined $10 million for giving up control of day-to-day operations to his wife.

According to Van Natta, "Snyder will never accept being forced to sell the team and is paranoid that those around the league will reveal additional information about him."

According to the report, the owner of the team was trying to blackmail fellow team owners and the Commissioner of the National Football League.

The Commanders said in a statement that the team could be for sale. BofA Securities was retained to consider potential transactions.