Ever heard of Luther Davis? No? He owns a National Championship ring from 2009 when he was a defensive lineman with the University of Alabama under head coach Nick Saban.
What does this have to do with the Cleveland Browns? Davis was recently arrested on an elaborately conceived scheme to defraud nearly $20 million in loans by impersonating several NFL players, one of whom was former Browns TE David Njoku.
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The scheme was very clever. And for a good while, it succeeded.
Prosecutors alleged that Davis impersonated three NFL players from May of 2023 to October of 2024 and secured loans from a few lending agencies who thought they were dealing with a famous and wealthy NFL player. Instead, it was Davis in disguise.
Davis reportedly received $20 million in loans using wigs, fake email addresses, and fictitious driver’s licenses to impersonate these three players: Njoku, Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix, and Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney. None of the three had authorized any loans.
Davis did have a wingman in this scheme, C.J. Evins, who is listed as the owner of Deed Chasers, LLC. Both Davis and Evins created realistic Secretary of State documents, fabricated personal financial statements, plus bank statements for companies that appeared to be operated by the NFL players. The duo even registered official-looking companies similar to the names of the players to assist their scheme.
A member of the 2010 National Champs, Alabama, Davis was a defensive tackle who played in all four years that he was in school. He was a four-star prospect from West Monroe, La., whom rivals.com considered to be the 15th-best defensive tackle in the nation. He had plenty of college offers and then committed to LSU. Two weeks later, newly-hired Alabama head coach Nick Saban visited his home, and Davis flipped commitments and was part of Saban’s first signing class with the Crimson Tide.
The scheme worked like this.
First, Davis and Evins would register at the Georgia Secretary of State companies that had names closely related to the impersonated player’s name or even his initials. Then, the pair would open bank accounts for these fictitious companies and create an email address for each. Next, they produced fake identification documents in the names of the players, including driver’s licenses, followed by all of the other types of documentation required.
Davis would show up at loan closings via video conference as the specified NFL player. He wore wigs to mimic specific players and makeup in order to lighten or darken his skin tone. The fake driver’s licenses were presented along with other documentation. The license digits were actually a real Georgia driver’s license number, but for a woman in Savannah, Georgia, instead of Njoku.
He closed on a $4 million promissory note with Aliya Sports Finance, a fund that lends to athletes, and underwriter Sure Sports, in January of 2024. That loan was earmarked for Njoku.
Sure Sports also put together a package along with All-Pro Capital Funding, which loaned Davis $4.4 million in April of 2024, thinking he was McKinney on a video conference. Another loan was secured with fake documents, and again, by video conference, Davis impersonated Penix and secured a $3.3 million promissory note from All-Pro Capital in July of 2024. Davis was wearing what was described as a “durag-style head covering” and presented a fake Florida driver’s license that was later identified as using a stock photo of Penix from one of the online image sites.
Other than by having their identities stolen by Davis and Evins, the NFL players were not connected in any way to the alleged scheme.
How they got caught was through the loan to Njoku.
First Farmers Bank & Trust Company discovered through an email from FBI Special Agent Christopher Maul, dated January 14, 2025, that the loan documents had not been signed by the actual professional football player, David Njoku, but by someone impersonating him, who had used a fake driver’s license during the loan closing.
Both Davis and Evins entered pleas of not guilty at their arraignments.
On April 27, Davis pled guilty to defrauding investors out of millions of dollars from a courtroom in Atlanta. He entered guilty pleas in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Evins pled guilty to the same two charges.
Sentencing for both men will occur in August. Each faces seven years in prison, though prosecutors worked out a plea deal and will recommend a lower sentence. The reason prosecutors offer plea deals is that their case load is huge and always behind, so the more cases they can get off their workload, this helps everyone in the judicial system. Plus, the prosecutor no longer has to prep for a trial.
No word yet on where the $20 million they received is currently located.
