Authorities are investigating the death of Mohamed Coulibaly, who has allegedly scammed many former NFL players with a fake e-commerce scheme, ABC News reported Thursday.
The 24-year-old was found dead in a swimming pool on Friday in Harrison Township, New Jersey. Police were contacted over concerns of his well-being and went over to the home for a welfare check.
The death follows a Barron’s investigation published on July 15 that named Coulibaly as the leader of a scam to get professional athletes to buy stakes in fake Shopify stores.
Former Giants linebacker Tae Crowder was an alleged victim of Coulibaly’s after connecting with him through a friend.
Additionally, three former NFL players admitted they collectively lost over $1 million in investments made through the Philadelphia native.
Eagles stars Nakobe Dean and Jalen Carter, Raiders’ Terrell Edmunds, rapper YG and US men’s soccer national team defender Mark McKenzie were among clients listed as well.
The former pros would invest into the e-commerce stores after having seen the promising sales logs, but Barron’s found those transactions were “manually input” by someone with access to the backend of the shops.
Crowder, who was drafted by the Giants in the seventh round in 2020 and played with Big Blue through the 2022 season, said he often saw Coulibaly around people he knew, which made him feel “comfortable.”
The 29-year-old, who last played in the NFL in 2023 for the Titans, threw all of his savings — $500,000 — into one of the fake web stores.
“I would log into the store all the time and just see, like, how it would work and what was going on,” Crowder said. “I feel like the more I told him about that, like, as many times I kept logging in, the number started going up.”
Yet, that return on investment never showed.
“I strongly dispute a number of the factual assertions and characterizations contained in the Barron’s article and any follow-up reporting that relies upon them,” Coulibaly told The Post in July.
He also argued to Barron’s that his investors had not received returns because he also “hadn’t received expected funds from a planned acquisition of his venture.”
No criminal charges have been filed in connection to Coulibaly.
“I don’t want anybody else to get involved in anything like this, and whoever has got involved, I just want to come together and make it right,” Crowder said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
