Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery was arrested Friday on charges he was connected to a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money laundering scheme, prosecutors said.
A grand jury indictment unsealed in New York accused the star sprinter, his gold medalist track coach, Steven Riddick, and 12 other people of being involved in a conspiracy that deposited US$5 million in stolen, altered or counterfeit checks over three years.
Some of the money was laundered through two businesses owned by a New York couple accused of being behind the scam, according to the indictment.
PHOTO: EPA
Montgomery, the former 100m world record-holder, surrendered to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Norfolk, Virginia on Friday.
He was released on US$10,000 bond hours later.
Investigators say Montgomery was the lesser player in a scheme hatched by lead defendants Douglas Shyne and Natasha Singh.
Shyne and Singh are accused of setting up sham businesses to take checks stolen from banks and either alter them or make counterfeit copies. Most of the checks involved accounts at large companies that didn't immediately notice the cash missing, federal agents said.
Montgomery knew the Shyne and Singh family through an acquaintance, according to the indictment. The sprinter deposited three bogus checks worth a total of US$775,000, prosecutors said. He is accused of helping his coach, Riddick, deposit others worth at least at least US$905,000. Prosecutors said Montgomery picked up a US$20,000 fee for his role.
The case has been unfolding for months. A first round of defendants were indicted in August. Riddick, a 1976 Olympic relay winner, was arrested in February while attending a track meet in Arkansas and has been free on bail since.
His attorney, Bryan H. Hoss, said his client is innocent and doesn't know Shyne or Singh.
"Steve Riddick is an Olympic gold medal athlete who trains world-class sprinters, and he has no association with this New York crew,'" Hoss said.
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