As mentioned by CNN
In the United States, a 69-year-old Georg Herman Ruth from Morristown, Tennessee, who shares a name with the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth, has become a figure in a case involving the use of the names of hundreds of deceased or retired players to file fraudulent payout claims in class-action lawsuits.
According to the indictment, Ruth is charged in absentia with a number of offenses: mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, money laundering, false statements to a probation officer, and illegal possession of a firearm after prior convictions.
According to the indictment, Ruth obtained or attempted to obtain more than $550,000 through this scheme. He allegedly claimed payments from various settlements – from lawsuits over the price of contact lenses to race-discrimination claims against a staffing agency, as stated in the documents.
According to the indictment, Ruth opened more than a dozen post office boxes in several Tennessee cities for himself and front companies, after which he filed hundreds of fraudulent claim forms with class-action administrators across the country. He used the names of former baseball players or variations of his own name and the Social Security numbers of unknown victims, prosecutors say.
The indictment does not name all the players Ruth allegedly represented, but describes some of them. For example, some played for defunct teams such as the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis...
George Herman Ruth will get to call his shot in court. Federal authorities charged a 69-year-old Tennessee resident with the same name as Babe Ruth with mail fraud, identity theft, and 91 total ch...