Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green lost $40,000 in LA gang leader’s fraudulent schemes

Shaquille O'Neal and Draymond Green lost $20,000 each in a fraudulent donation scheme towards nonprofit organizations.

Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green lost $40,000 in LA gang leader’s fraudulent schemes

Shaquille O'Neal and Draymond Green lost $20,000 each to Eugene Henley

Shaquille O’Neal has earned a lot both during his time playing in the NBA as well as in his life after his basketball career was over. He also makes it a point to help those in need as well as helping people in kind whenever he has the opportunity.

The big man though, is not known to flash a lot of cash towards charitable organizations. He believes in being the one helping people, rather than give the money to someone or an organization who will then help others.

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The LA Times came out with an article about Eugene “Big U” Henley, a well-known figure in the hip-hop world. Along with his music producing activities, Henley also runs a nonprofit organization called Developing Options. The organization’s motive is to handle gang interventions. They also help underprivileged children learn a new way of life through sports.

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As per the article, Shaquille O’Neal had donated $20,000 to Developing Options. It could be that he did it out of respect for Henley’s association in the hip-hop world, a world where the Big Aristotle is somewhat active. Or it could be that he did not want his name being directly involved with gang interventions.

Either way, as per a 107-page federal complaint, Eugene Henley has defrauded O’Neal along with Draymond Green of $20,000 each. Green transferred the money to the Developing Options’ account in August 2019.

But then, Henley transferred that money from the Developing Options’ account to his own checking account. Essentially, he defrauded them after convincing both the basketball stars that it was for the greater good.

Eugene Henley defrauded a lot of other organizations

As per the article, Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green were not the only ones Eugene Henley defrauded. He had set up Developing Options as a front. It is not that they did not do their part in gang interventions or help children.

But Henley did do a lot of that work. He used the organization to draw in funding from various sources. One of them was the LA Mayor’s office’s Gang Reduction Youth Development program. The program had allotted $2.35 million over a five-year span.

But the 58-year-old Rollin’ 60s gang member withdrew a major portion of it as salary. He has also allegedly fraudulently applied for federal pandemic-relief loans through Developing Options and his other companies.

Green and O’Neal were among a list of nine individuals named in that federal complaint of people who Henley defrauded. This situation was unearthed by the FBI. Therefore, it was not as if the basketball stars lodged a formal complaint.

Were Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green threatened to donate?

Eugene Henley mostly promoted himself as a music producer. But behind that front was a Crips gang leader who as per the federal complaint, ran a ‘mafia-like’ organization in Los Angeles. They offered protection to celebrities and athletes, for a fee.

Henley was accused of forcing athletes and rappers to check in whenever they reached Los Angeles. This meant, they had to pay an upfront fee for protection. Otherwise, they would face retaliation from the Big U Enterprise Henley ran.

That protection has had a positive side when the 58-year-old helped two NBA All-Stars recover $6.5 million they lost to a professional boxer. The boxer had used ‘teased’ dice to cheat them out of that money. The All-Stars approached Henley for help, and he charged them $100,000 for his services.

This means Eugene Henley used threats and violence to intimidate people. As per the LA Times article, he ‘persuaded’ both Draymond Green and Shaquille O’Neal to donate $20,000 each. But it is unclear how he ‘persuaded’ them.

Chances are he did not threaten known celebrities as it would attract unwanted attention on to him. He knows O’Neal has earned enough but cannot make a major underhand donation. The same logic applies to Green who gets all of his money wired from the Golden State Warriors.