Today, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced that no criminal charges would be filed in the possible extortion of former Bengal Chinedum Ndukwe.

On August 24, 2019 an allegation of sexual assault was reported to the Cincinnati Police Department by a former female employee of Chinedum Ndukwe.

On September 3rd Mr. Ndukewe received a letter from attorneys in Atlanta and Cincinnati demanding a payment of $10 million to resolve all differences between himself and his former employee. In a subsequent telephone conversation, the attorneys indicated that if the payment of $10 million was made, their client would not pursue criminal charges. In the call, the attorneys said, “Well, the way it works…is I tell my NFL guys and my NBA guys if the so-called victim doesn’t cooperate, it makes the job virtually impossible for the police to proceed.” The attorneys for the former employee also pressured Mr. Ndukwe to settle saying, “Once we get cops involved and once the media gets involved to start this, you know, the numbers are going to jump, because now she’s got more stress and she’s got more pain.”

Mr. Ndukwe, through his attorneys, immediately contacted the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office to report the allegation made against him and the conduct of the complainant’s attorneys.

After a full investigation, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office determined that no charges would be brought against Mr. Ndukwe by our office.  However, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office will forward a complaint to both the Supreme Courts of Ohio and Georgia concerning the conduct of the attorneys.

Prosecutor Deters commented, “This is a serious matter.  Accusing someone of a crime and demanding an outrageous amount of money to forego prosecuting the crime is not something I take lightly.

We will report these matters to the Georgia and Ohio Supreme Courts for their review and determination regarding ethical violations and possible attorney discipline.”