The federal judge overseeing the NFL’s settlement for concussion-related conditions denied the league’s request for an investigator to evaluate cases that NFL attorneys believe to be fraud from former players.
According to ESPN, Judge Anita Brody ruled that the sides “have demonstrated that they are capable of ferreting out any claims involving misrepresentations, omissions, or concealment of material fact, and ensuring that those claims are not paid.”
Brody believes that the system in place to sort through false claims appears to be “working effectively.”
However, Brody did find “sufficient evidence of probable fraud” from those seeking payouts to “warrant serious concern,” according to Philly.com. She might reconsider “if the claims administrator or special masters she has appointed to manage the settlement’s implementation deemed such a step was necessary,” Philly.com notes.
The NFL released a statement following Brody’s ruling.
“We want to ensure that players and their families receive the benefits they deserve,” it said. “The Court overseeing the NFL Concussion Settlement today issued an order confirming that the NFL provided ‘sufficient evidence of possible fraud to warrant serious concern’ and commended the League for ‘its commitment to faithfully implement the Settlement Agreement by bringing this issue to light.'”
NFL’s lead attorney for the players Christopher Seeger agreed Wednesday a special investigator was not needed because he said, “The claims process has continued to accelerate and the current audit process is working effectively” since the NFL made the original request more than two months ago.
The filing Wednesday to the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania comes after NFL attorneys requested a third-party investigator in April to evaluate a large number of “red-flagged” claims.
The NFL has an agreement to compensate retirees for the long-term effects of head injuries and according to Seeger, approximately $1.4 billion is set to be paid out to former players.