Floyd Mayweather Faces Criminal Charges Over Alleged Bad Check For $200,000 Luxury Watch
The allegations stem from the purchase of an Audemars Piguet watch at Gold and Beyond, a Las Vegas-based luxury retailer.
Prosecutors allege that Mayweather wrote a $200,000 check to a Wells Fargo account on Dec. 31, 2024. The criminal complaint says the account did not have sufficient funds to cover the amount of the check.
The criminal complaint alleges that Mayweather obtained the property “knowing that the check would not be cashed upon presentation.”
ESPN reported that prosecutors filed the initial complaint on April 27, with the court ruling three days later for Mayweather to appear before a judge. An attorney representing Mayweather appeared on his behalf during Monday’s hearing.
Marc Cook, an attorney representing Gold and Beyond, told ESPN that his client initially hoped to settle the matter privately and avoid pursuing criminal charges.
“The reason for the delay is that my boy trusted Mayweather and was trying to give him every opportunity to succeed in that,” Cook said. “It got to the point where he didn’t get answers and didn’t get money for the watch that Mayweather had for more than a year.”
Cook added that his client tried several ways to get the money before filing a complaint with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in February.
If convicted, Mayweather could face stiff penalties. Under Nevada law, a charge related to passing a check for fraud carries a possible sentence of one to four years, while a charge of felony theft carries a possible sentence of one to 20 years.
Neither Mayweather’s attorney nor the Clark County District Attorney’s Office had immediate comment on the allegations, according to ESPN.
The 50-0 boxing legend is scheduled to compete in an exhibition bout against former kickboxing star Mike Zambidis on June 27 in Athens, Greece. ESPN reported that a source close to Mayweather expects the event to go ahead as planned and revealed that Mayweather has retained his passport despite various tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service.
The criminal case adds to the growing list of issues surrounding Mayweather. ESPN noted that the IRS filed tax liens of more than $7.2 million related to unpaid taxes from 2018 and 2023. Mayweather has also been embroiled in several civil disputes, including a lawsuit he filed earlier this year against Showtime and former business associates seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
Mayweather has yet to file a lawsuit in Nevada, and the allegations contained in the criminal complaint are yet to be tested in court.
