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Former NFL running back Adrian Peterson has been ordered to turn over “numerous assets” to pay off an estimated debt of more than $12 million, ESPN’s Field Level Media reported on Tuesday.
The order was made by a Houston judge after a request by debt collector Robert Berleth, who told the court that Peterson “is known to have numerous assets” in his Missouri City, Texas, home, per ESPN.
The judge “ordered constables in Fort Bend County, Texas, to accompany Berleth to Peterson’s residence to keep the peace,” according to ESPN.
Peterson played in the NFL from 2007 to 2021 and was named the league’s MVP while playing for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012. He has been facing debt issues since defaulting on a $5.2 million loan taken out in 2016.
DeAngelo Vehicle Sales LLC filed a 2018 case against Peterson in the New York Supreme Court, in which the company claimed Peterson had failed to pay back the $5.2 million loan plus interest, per court records obtained by Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic.
“Peterson is believed to have borrowed the money to pay back other loans he had taken out for investments, which soured,” Kaplan wrote at the time.
According to Kaplan, these investments were “believed to be the subject” of Peterson’s reported 2020 arbitration hearing with financial planning company Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
Also in 2018, Peterson was separately ordered by courts in Maryland and Minnesota to pay back debts totaling around $3 million after allegedly defaulting on loans from other creditors.
In the initial 2018 filing, DeAngelo Vehicle Sales sought $6.6 million from Peterson, in addition to continued interest until the loan was repaid, per Kaplan.
Peterson acknowledged his default on the loan in a 2019 settlement agreement, ESPN’s Michael Rothstein.
In 2021 the New York court ordered Peterson pay almost $8.3 million to DeAngelo Vehicle Sales, Rothstein reported. Until paid, the debt was set to continue accruing interest at a rate of 9 percent, per Rothstein.
Berleth told the court in a July filing that “no offsets have been made against this judgment to date,” per ESPN.
Peterson retired from the NFL in 2021 having collected more than $100 million in career earnings, not including endorsements, per Spotrac.
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