FOLLOW UP: More Documented Evidence That Murphy, Or His Soccer Team, Lied

Yesterday I wrote a post about the fact that it is untrue that Governor Phil Murphy’s soccer team “has had no relationship with GPS since 2016.” As a reminder GPS is Global Premiere Soccer, a company with ties to Murphy’s soccer team that was allegedly involved with visa fraud. It was once written in New England Soccer Journal:

The latest developments arise after New England Soccer Journal learned of various accounts from former GPS coaches who accused the club of irregularities with immigration paperwork and providing poor working conditions.

Excessive hours with disproportionate pay and living in overcrowded conditions were both cited as concerns, with GPS coaches often arriving from the United Kingdom.

Imagine that, an organization connected to Murphy that provided low pay and lousy living conditions. Now we know where he learned how to force the women on his soccer team live in shoddy housing and that how to get away with paying professional soccer player less than $15 an hour while campaigning on $15 an hour.

Back to what I wrote yesterday. Murphy’s soccer team lied! Period. Full stop.

Author Stephen Griffin, who also happens to be a former CEO of Legacy Global Sports, the parent company of Global Premiere Soccer and has been cooperating with the Feds in their investigation of the alleged visa fraud, got a front row seat to get a look at the alleged visa fraud committed by GPS and connected to Murphy’s soccer team.

Griffin is the author of two books, “Front Row Seat” and the recently released “Lost Locker Room.”

Lost Locker Room details the collapse of GPS. I’m reading it on Kindle now. Lost Locker Room mentions the former name of Murphy’s soccer team, Sky Blue FC, 104 times. One entry (of many) in the book clearly states one connection to GPS:

In one case, we even learned that a Sky Blue FC employee maintained a GPS email account even while employed by the Sky Blue FC.  I found that odd at first but then realized that he would have one email conversation about the visa scheme using his GPS email account when he was only communicating with GPS executives. Then, when he included his fellow Sky Blue FC staff in an email string, he would use his Sky Blue FC email account.   I still find that odd – it seemed he had put himself on both sides of the transaction.  It would seem that there would have to be some form of compensation for doing so – likely another quid pro quo.

This was happening right under Murphy’s nose before he was elected Governor which gives us an idea of how so many scandals could have happened in his administration.

After exposing the fact that Murphy, or his soccer team, lied about ending the relationship with Global Premiere Soccer I got some hate email (which I always love). Apparently, quoting a March Boston Globe article wasn’t enough evidence for some Murphy supporters. As a reminder this is the quote from the Boston Globe:

Records show that Global Premier initially tried to bring Botezatu to the United States as a coach in 2017 by arranging for Sky Blue FC to submit a US immigration petition stating he would work for the team in New Jersey as a professional scout.

Since that quote wasn’t enough, maybe Murphy supporters should go buy a copy of “Lost Locker Room” because it is clear that on January 3, 2017 Sky Blue FC’s coach had contact with GPS and even asked that GPS sign his name on a document to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS):

December 2016 – The GPS CEO sent an email to the Sky Blue FC head coach, a former GPS employee who still, for some odd reason, maintained an active GPS email address. The GPS CEO attached a draft of a letter that was a response to a Request for Evidence issued by the USCIS.  More specifically, the letter was a statement regarding the P-1S applicants’ qualifications as scouts.  It was very similar to the letter referenced early that was sent by a co-owner of the Boston Breakers to USCIS.

Again, this letter asserted that the visa applicants would be working for the Sky Blue FC as assistant coaches and scouts and serving in support roles for P-1A visa-recipients; the professional players employed by Sky Blue FC.  It even stated that the P-1S applicants were essential to the professional soccer players’ ability to succeed as professional soccer players in the United States.

Several days later, on January 3, 2017, the Sky Blue FC coach responded to the email about the letter responding to the USCIS Request for Evidence.  He wrote:

“I'm working at a camp in Hawaii right now mate -- I don't have access to a computer. Would you be ok signing on my behalf?”

Unbelievable.  Based on follow-up emails, it appeared that the GPS COO then signed on his behalf and forwarded the letter on to the USCIS.

January 3, 2017 is after 2016! Once again, proof that Murphy, or at least his soccer team, had a relationship with GPS after 2016!

The question is for how long after 2016 was Murphy’s soccer team still involved with GPS and their alleged visa fraud? The scheme lasted through most of 2019.

Actually, there are a few questions.

Considering at least two GPS officials have pleaded guilty in connection to the alleged visa fraud scheme, do I still have to say “alleged?” Guilty does mean it actually happened.

Does anyone in the New Jersey press care that Murphy’s soccer team lied to the Boston Globe, and others, when they stated that they “had no relationship with GPS since 2016?”

Is the press in New Jersey going to bother looking into how much Murphy, or his soccer team, knew about the alleged visa fraud scheme? It was going on from at least 2016 to October 2019 according to the Feds.

It doesn’t matter, the Bob & Steve Show has 60,000 listeners and 30,000 monthly visitors to the blog. If the press in New Jersey isn’t going to do their job, we will do the job for them.

Guaranteed there is more to this story. Stay tuned!

Here We Go Again With Phil Murphy Being Connected To Poor Living Conditions For Soccer Professionals

Recently Phil Murphy’s professional women’s soccer team, Sky Blue, managed to get into the news again. This time it was due to the team’s possible involvement in an alleged fraudulent visa scheme.

A little rehashing of some of the stories that came out about the team’s possible involvement in an alleged fraudulent visa scheme is necessary because it is likely that the press in New Jersey will let Murphy off the hook again.

They’ve already started letting him off the hook. For example, in an NJ.com piece they mention emails in which “…Murphy is asked by another co-owner of Sky Blue whether it’s OK to speak to an attorney about a scouting agreement…” while other publications such as The Equalizer state Murphy is “…copied on several emails between GPS, Sky Blue, and their attorneys in which they are negotiating a deal,” according to the report.” The Equalizer is a blog that exclusively posts news stories and pieces about women's professional soccer. They do an excellent job.

Never mind the fact that according to The Boston Globe, “Other than the Breakers, Sky Blue was Global Premier’s most active partner in the immigration arrangement, submitting petitions for about 40 visa applicants on behalf of Global Premier, according to company records.” The same report clearly states the folks who received the visa and were supposed to work for the teams as coaches or scouts never worked for the professional teams:

However, once the workers received their visas, they fanned out across the country to coach youth clubs affiliated with Global Premier. They never worked as scouts and never were paid by the professional teams, according to former Global Premier coaches and company records.

So, Murphy’s soccer team helped 40 people get into the United States in an alleged visa scheme and he was copied on several emails on the matter according to published reports.

That’s bad enough but something else that jumped out at me is a report by The Guardian that states foreign coaches “were allegedly crammed into overcrowded houses.”

The report by The Guardian reminded me of the stories of how Murphy’s soccer team forced players to deal with poor living conditions.

Thanks to the aforementioned report by The Guardian we now have to ask if Murphy likes that his policies, or more accurately the policies of his soccer team, seem to lead to people living in shoddy living conditions.

And, it turns out that The Guardian is not the first to point out that the folks coming over in this alleged visa scheme are forced to live in poor conditions.

Stephen Griffin, an author and former CEO of Legacy Global Sports, wrote in his blog, “Once in the U.S., the coaches are often underpaid, some are forced into unacceptable living arrangements, occasionally threatened, and located in states that are inconsistent with their visa applications – often resulting in inappropriate payroll tax treatment.”

So, here we go again with Murphy being connected to unacceptable living conditions for soccer professionals. The only question left to ask is if the press will investigate if Murphy knew he was connected to more soccer professionals living in unacceptable conditions.

Is Phil Murphy’s Meddling In Soccer Team Affairs A Violation Of Blind Trust Agreement?

Phil Murphy

I’m not a lawyer so the question, “Is Phil Murphy meddling in soccer team affairs a violation of his blind trust agreement,” is an honest question.

A few months after becoming Governor, Murphy “and his wife Tammy put their holdings in blind trusts that will manage millions of dollars in assets.”

According to NJ.com Murphy “ held onto his two-thirds interest in the women's professional soccer team Sky Blue FC.

Not being a lawyer I went to Google to try and learn a little something about blind trusts. The simplest explanation of blind trusts comes from Legal Zoom:

In a blind trust, a settlor transfers assets to a third party who has complete discretion in how to use or invest the assets. In the typical blind trust, the settlor is also the beneficiary; thus, the trustee is managing the assets for the benefit of the settlor. However, the settlor/beneficiary can't give any instructions to the trustee about what to invest in; he has absolutely no knowledge of how the assets are invested or what they're being used for.

Based on that explanation of blind trusts it seems to me that calling and attempting to convince draft picks to sign with the team would be a violation of the blind trust agreement. Here at The Bob & Steve Show we mentioned the fact Murphy tried to convince two of the team’s draft picks to sign, The New York Post reported that Murphy tried to convince the number 6 overall draft pick to sign and New Jersey Globe did a piece on Murphy’s “continued involvement in the operations of the professional women’s soccer team he owns.”

Maybe some people feel sorry for Murphy because of all the problems his soccer team has had and are willing to give him a free pass over calling draft picks to attempt to convince them to sign with Sky Blue.

And, I might even be willing to give the same free pass, but it turns out we now know thanks to a Pro Soccer USA report that Murphy didn’t stop at calling only two draft picks. According to Pro Soccer USA:

In addition to having meetings with Reddy and general manager Tony Novo, some players, including Sheridan, spoke to owners Steven Temares and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy after the season. Sheridan said her conversation with them via conference call was good for both parties, particularly the ownership.

And just yesterday NJ.com reported:

The team tweeted photos of players chatting with the first couple at Murphy’s home during a recent dinner party, but it’ll take more than one night of small talk and finger foods to solve the issues.

Obviously, I wasn’t invited to that dinner party, nut I believe it’s a safe bet to assume there was talk about how the team is run.

Mr. Murphy, with all his money, I’m sure has some really good lawyers, but my limited knowledge of blind trusts has me thinking he is in violation of the blind trust agreement. All his conversations with players are/were to either sign draft picks or convince stars to stay because improvements are being made. The way I see it those conversations improve his team’s bottom line, which means Murphy directly benefits from the conversations, clearly a violation of the blind trust.

Then again, I’m not a lawyer, so maybe I’m wrong. You decide.