By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Former NFL player Reed Kyle Diehl is in big trouble for clipping — yes clipping investors in a $5 million Ponzi scheme.

The 30-year-old former offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans  pleaded guilty Monday in Santa Ana, Calif., to fraud charges in connection to a Ponzi in which he “collected funds with promises of high rates of returns on investment loans”, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Diehl posed as a banker who made short-term cash loans to businesses or individuals.

“Instead of using investor funds to make loans, he used investors’ money to repay earlier investors and to fund his lifestyle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter will sentence him Sept. 28.

Authorities say Diehl was originally arrested in March 2008 and released on bond. In January, his bond was revoked after he got involved in a real estate transaction involving a $3.5 million home using a false name and social security number, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.