'Basketball Wives' Star's Ex Charged With Wire Fraud and Theft of Government Property

Birds of a feather flock together is a saying that references friends who share common interests and participate in similar activities. If the saying is true, it may apply to former couple Brittish Williams and Lorenzo Gordon. The two gained fame when Williams joined Basketball Wives: LA for one season when she was engaged to Gordon, who played overseas basketball at the time. Their relationship was volatile, with many breakups and makeups, as well as infidelity on both ends. The former pair participated in We TV's Marriage Boot Camp to try and salvage their relationship and had a daughter, Dash, who recently turned 5. Williams returned to Basketball Wives in its 10th and 11th seasons. The latter focused on her fraud case, which she's since been sentenced to serve four years in prison for. Now, Gordon is facing similar charges.

According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The 40-year-old faces three charges of wire fraud and one count of theft of government property. Investigators claim he lied on his COVID-19 business relief applications about how long he had operated two businesses, how much money they had earned, and whether he was the sole owner of a janitorial company. He reportedly collected $273,000 as a result. 

Gordon played professional basketball in Russia, France, Germany, Turkey and Israel after his collegiate career at Illinois State. An indictment filed against him reveals that he applied for a federal pandemic business relief loan on June 19, 2020 alleging his business, Logo Fitness, made gross revenues of nearly $96,500. Investigators learned Logo Fitness wasn't established until 2020. Three days after the first filing, he submitted another application for a business called Elite 50 Basketball Training, which he noted earned more than $234,600 in the past year. Like Logo Fitness, Elite 50 Basketball Training was also established in 2020.

In his paperwork, Gordon claimed he was the owner of a business called Lorenzo Gordon Janitorial Services since 2017, but there was another owner per the investigation. The report notes that Gordon's name previously appeared in a different investigation from state regulators into a food distribution program for needy children. He ran a commercial kitchen and provided food for a nonprofit that later ran afoul of state regulators and was forced to stop participating in federal food distribution programs but wasn't accused of anything illegal.

His indictment comes three months after Williams, pleaded guilty to 15 federal charges, including tax fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud, and pandemic-related fraud. She reportedly admitted to sending out fake bills for health insurance payouts, lying to the IRS and on applications for federal loans, and opening bank accounts and lines of credit with other people's Social Security numbers. 

In her interview with Carlos King, she alleged she was unaware most of what she did was illegal. She also felt her punishment didn't fit the crime and she was being made an example out of. When asked by King if Gordon was aware of her illegal activity, she said she assumed he was. He later issued a statement via Instagram denying such.