Photo Courtesy of Instagram (@dennisrodman) & OPSO
Dennis Rodman held an untouchable role at the peak of his NBA career. However, the rise and fall of Rodman’s career are one for the books.
The former champion’s net worth is estimated to be around $500,000. Although this may not be the entire reason for Rodman’s downfall, a woman played a huge role.
According to Sports Illustrated, Dennis Rodman was scammed out of millions along with several other athletes. Peggy Ann Fulford posed as a financial advisor, gaining the trust of wealthy clients and athletes she stole from.
“I do control a very large part of their lives, and when you control someone’s finances, that is their life,” Fulford said in a demo reel for a proposed reality show about her career, The Peggy Show.
In the mid-2000s, Fulford worked for Rodman as his financial advisor. The two were so close that he thanked her in his 2011 Hall of Fame speech.
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But red flags started popping up, and authorities later discovered Fulford oversaw 85 bank accounts, moving money from one to the other. She even held over 20 shell corporations, which she used to launder money. Some companies included Dennis Rodman Group LLC, Dennis Rodman Group & Associates LLC and Dennis Rodman Inc.
Authorities also discovered that Fulford lied to her clients about earning degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School and making millions on Wall Street.
On Dec. 13, 2016, a federal grand jury in Houston indicted Fulford for mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen property. She was arrested in New Orleans but was released on bond.
In 2018, she was arrested, and this time U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison gave Fulford a 10-year prison sentence for scamming Rodman and others. She also had to pay $5.7 million to her victims.
Rodman was unmatched in his eclectic personality on and off the court. He would dress in drag, dye his hair in multiple colors and paint his nails.
His uniqueness and talent earned him millions throughout his NBA career. According to Spotrac, the former player earned approximately $27 million at his peak.
Rodman also earned a spot in the NBA Hall of Fame and carried the Chicago Bulls to victory, alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the ’90s and was one of the original Motor City “Bad Boys” when he played with the legendary Detroit Pistons during their two-year reign as the NBA’s dominating team in 1989 and 1990, respectively.