An Arizona man have been accused of scamming $15 million from Long Islanders and NHL players in four elaborate schemes over the past decade, including an alleged con involving a Sag Harbor real estate investment.
Phillip Kenner, 43, a former financial adviser to professional hockey players, and his alleged accomplice, 47-year-old Tommy Constantine, an ex-racecar driver, were arrested Wednesday by FBI and IRS agents in their hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz.
The two are facing a judge at Phoenix federal court as prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York seek the suspects’ extradition to Long Island, where the duo has been indicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.
“Phillip Kenner spun a web of lies, deceit, and broken promises that stretched from Hawaii to Mexico to the East End of Long Island,” said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Prosecutors alleged that Kenner bought the Sag Harbor property with $395,000 he took from a player’s line of credit without the victim’s permission and convinced another player to pay $375,000 for a 50 percent interest in the property that was later sold at a loss.
Kenner also allegedly solicited victims to invest $2 million in Hawaiian real estate, money that Kenner and Constantine used to pay for personal expenses; $1.4 million Eufora LLC, a prepaid debit card business, but diverted the funds elsewhere; and $4.1 million for Mexican land deals that instead paid for Constantine’s racecar and home.
Kenner had befriended a hockey player who was later drafted by an NHL team while the two enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate Troy, New York, and later advised other players when he worked at a financial firm in Boston, authorities said.
Kenner and Constantine face up to 20 years in prison. Several of the victims are also suing the suspects for the losses.
