[taco.vidal]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ho...ampaign=Buffer

Berard, who was picked first overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, has devoted much of his post-NHL life to poring through bank records and documents and sifting through emails as he cooperated with the FBI in exposing one of the most extensive con jobs in sports history.
"I feel like I can finally close a chapter in my life. It's been a tough three years finding out a friend/business manager had stolen from me after I retired from the NHL," said Berard, who estimates he lost at least $3 million and maybe as much as $6 million in forged lines of credits, worthless real estate deals and bad investments in a tech startup, a video game company and a shoulder pad company. "I never made any money from any of it. Now, I can now move on to my next career knowing he will be held responsible for what he's done."

The Daily News sports investigative team first began reporting on the case of the missing hockey millions in 2009. Among the victims was Berard, the former No. 1 NHL draft pick who later lost an eye in a gruesome on-ice accident and fought his way back to the NHL. He and other players have cooperated with federal investigators for at least three years. The scam is alleged to have involved former Islander Michael Peca, former Ranger Mattias Norstrom, Jere Lehtinen of the Dallas Stars and NHL journeymen Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel, some of whom have turned against Kenner and Constantine.

The alleged crimes left some of the players broke, facing home foreclosures and IRS liens, even as Kenner and Constantine used their money to fund a lifestyle that included private planes and condos and property in Hawaii, Arizona, Las Vegas and Mexico. The palatial home where Kenner was living when he was arrested was recently listed on a vacation rental website as a resort paradise, complete with a movie theater, a $1 million pool and tennis and basketball courts.
Meanwhile, one player, Dmitri Khristich of Ukraine, who last played for the Washington Capitals, then returned to his country broke. Another, Jason Woolley, who played for the Red Wings, Sabres, Penguins, Panthers and Capitals, filed for bankruptcy in September and listed among his assets his silver medal from the Olympics and two guinea pigs. Woolley listed debts of $212,774.