Josh Bellamy went from former NFL Wide Receiver to Covid relief scammer. Find out how in this video!

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Josh Bellamy
Former NFL wide receiver Josh Bellamy was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit a crime in late 2020. Specifically, he ran a scheme to defraud the government. How did such a successful person, a former NFL wide receiver, get to this point?

EARLY LIFE
Josh Bellamy was born May 18th, 1989, in St Petersburg, Florida, the same state where he would commit fraud 31 years later. Since Florida is a footballloving state, Bellamy grew up playing the sport through his early school years.

$7.6 Million
All in all, Bellamy earned $7.6 million while playing in the NFL from 2012 to 2020. In those 8 years, Bellamy played with 5 different teams, ending on a 1year stint with the New York Jets, which was cut short by a stubborn shoulder injury.

Phillip Augustin
Augustin was in the talent agency business. However, the moneymaking idea Augustin proposed to Bellamy had nothing to do with talent representation. Instead, it had everything to do with the pandemic. At the start of the Covid19 Pandemic, the government created the Payment Protection Program, also known as the PPP.

Fabricated
Augustin, who was 51 at the time, inflated the potential of his loan by fabricating bank statements and payroll tax forms. The false numbers led government officials to think Bellamy's company was much larger than it really was, leading to a loan size that fits the financial needs of his imaginary employees.

Federal Spending
According to Bellamy's purchase records, he spent $5,000 at the Gucci store, then dropped another thousand at Milano Exchange, and nearly doubled that amount at Dior. But that was just the clothes. Bellamy allegedly spent $62,000 at the Seminoleowned Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida.

Twitter Flex
One tweet, in particular, seems to encapsulate the vibe Bellamy wanted to portray after obtaining his PPP loan. The tweet read: "Spent So Much In Dior They Wanna See ID" captioning a photo depicting Bellamy sitting on an outdoor patio with a bundle of cash in hand.

Federal Investigation
Eventually, the feds caught up with the scheme. Augustin, who forged the documents, was too lazy to write new ones for the next loan application. He used Bellemay's original documents and basically copy/pasted them onto his other clients' forms.

Busted
They detained Bellamy in September of 2020 and scheduled him for a hearing in a Tampa federal court. While Bellamy was released, his wallet took a huge hit in the form of a quartermilliondollar bond.

Actual Mastermind
Bellamy may look like your typical dumb criminal. However, the truth behind his participation in the scheme isn't as cut and dry as his reckless tweets make it appear. Bellamy's attorney is defending his client, saying he was just as much a victim of Augustine's scam as the United States government.

Full Ring
Augustin's scheme spread to other individuals living in South Florida and even as far north as Ohio. Though it’s unclear how involved Bellamy was in perpetuating the scheme, Augustine's forging method was repeated enough times to defraud the government out of $24 million.

BELLAMY'S FUTURE
The day before his arrest, Bellamy was waived from the Jets. In other words, he'll remain a "former" wide receiver until he signs with another team. Since Bellamy is currently charged with multiple counts of fraud, signing with any NFL team is not viable until his case is resolved.

Latest Update
And here’s a quick update on Bellamy that happened after we finished producing this video! Bellamy was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison on December 9th for his role in the COVID scam.