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Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney

The Green Bay Packers had one of the top defenses in the NFL last season, and safety Xavier McKinney was one of the reasons why.

The two-time All-Pro safety led the team in coverage snaps (665), he was second on the team in passes defended (10), pass break ups (9), forced incompletions (10), and interceptions (2), and third in tackles (107).

McKinney also allowed the lowest passer rating against (63.9) and the second-lowest completion percentage against in coverage (56.3) last season, per Pro Football Focus.

While McKinney had one of the best seasons of his career, he was also recently involved in an incident he would presumably like to forget.

McKinney Involved in $4 Million Scam

GettyGreen Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney

According to Daniel Kaplan of The Guardian, McKinney was recently part of a scam in which someone impersonated him to swindle $4.375 million from a lender.

“A lender to professional athletes wired $4.375m to a borrower it thought was Green Bay Packers star Xavier McKinney, only to learn months later it had allegedly been scammed by someone impersonating the player,” Kaplan wrote.

“The news is contained in Aliya Sports Finance Fund’s (ASFF) lawsuit against a longtime US sports industry loan broker, Sure Sports, for allegedly not performing satisfactory due diligence when it introduced what turned out to be apparently a fake McKinney to the lender.

“… ASFF has come to learn that the borrower apparently was not McKinney, but rather a third party who impersonated McKinney to facilitate the disbursement and theft of the Loan proceeds.”

The FBI is currently investigating the incident.

Sure Sports is being sued by Aliya Sports Finance Fund, which claims SS was negligent for not executing due diligence before introducing the McKinney imposter to the lender in which he stole the $4.3 million from.

The fake McKinney case came with an $87,500 payment to Sure Sports for brokering the deal.

What’s Next for McKinney?

McKinney himself doesn’t appear to be in any legal trouble.

The 27-year-old defensive back isn’t out any money and he’s not subject of any investigation either.

“McKinney appears to be a victim of identity theft and is not part of the case, at least directly,” Kaplan continued. “Aliya in a motion to the court wrote it intended to subpoena the NFL Players Association for a copy of his player contract, and all correspondence about the loan between the labor group and the player, Sure Sports, and federal investigators. And Aliya has asked Sure Sports to turn over all financial information and correspondence it had with McKinney, real or fake. The NFLPA did not reply for comment.

“What about McKinney himself? His agency, Athletes First, declined to comment. The agency and McKinney have no role in the case.”

Michael Gallagher Michael Gallagher is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He has more than a decade of experience working for both local and national news outlets covering the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football, and MMA. His work has been featured in Newsweek, Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Athlon Sports, The Hockey News, the Nashville Scene, SB Nation, and Yardbarker. More about Michael Gallagher