His name is George Herman Ruth, but don’t confuse him with the Bambino.
The Sultan of Swat he is not.
A Tennessee man with the same full name as the legendary New York Yankees slugger gained notoriety of a different kind this month, when federal prosecutors accused him of stealing the identities of hundreds of now-dead and retired baseball players as part of a major fraud scheme.
The man, George Herman Ruth, 69, of Morristown, Tenn., used the players’ names and the Social Security numbers of numerous unwitting victims to file bogus settlement claims as part of class-action lawsuits, the authorities said. He “obtained or attempted to obtain” more than $550,000 through the scheme, federal prosecutors said.
The federal government did not name the victims, but released some identifying information, including the teams that they had played for and their positions.
On Aug. 12, a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Ruth on 91 criminal counts, including charges of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
The charges, which were announced on Thursday by the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, were reported earlier by The Associated Press.
If convicted, Mr. Ruth could face more than 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.
Willie Santana, a federal public defender who represents Mr. Ruth, said in an email on Monday that he could not comment on the pending matter.
Starting around January 2023, Mr. Ruth set out on his plan to submit hundreds of fraudulent claim forms to class-action administrators, prosecutors said. That year, he opened more than a dozen post office boxes under the name George Ruth or Class Action Solutions L.L.C. as part of the fraud scheme, the authorities said.
Mr. Ruth masqueraded as a legitimate plaintiff in a host of class-action lawsuits that were brought against various businesses, including a staffing company, financial institutions and the manufacturers of disposable contact lenses, according to the indictment. Some the lawsuits stemmed from discrimination claims, price-fixing allegations and illegal telemarketing calls to consumers.
In one instance, Mr. Ruth used the name of a retired first baseman who had played for the New York Mets, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Florida Marlins (now the Miami Marlins) to file a settlement claim, investigators said.
In another instance, the authorities said, he stole the identity of a deceased former catcher who had played for the Yankees and the St. Louis Browns.
It was not clear whether the Social Security numbers that Mr. Ruth was accused of stealing belonged to any of the players whose names were used in the scheme.
In 2020, Mr. Ruth pleaded guilty in connection with a Social Security fraud scheme in Indiana and was sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison, according to court records. He was on probation when he stole the baseball players’ identities, the authorities said.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
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