Mark Sanchez among those defrauded by investment advisor's Ponzi-like scheme

MLB pitchers Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt were also among those defrauded

Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez is among a group of athletes that were defrauded by the investment advisor Ash Narayan, who is alleged to have cheated people out of approximately $30 million. Also included among that list of athletes are San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and retired former Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.

Narayan allegedly told his clients, including Sanchez, that he was pursuing a low-risk investment strategy while he was actually pouring their money into an Illinois-based online sports and entertainment ticket business, The Ticket Reserve, that had lost money for the past four years, according to ESPN.com.

According to court documents, Narayan directed more than $30.4 million into the ticket business from three current and former athletes: $15.1 million from Peavy; nearly $7.8 million from Sanchez; and nearly $7.6 million from Oswalt.

In statements filed as part of the lawsuit, both Peavy and Sanchez said they believe Narayan forged their signatures to transfer money from their accounts to the business.

Peavy said he had been working to set aside $20 million for after his playing days were over.

Sanchez has earned just over $69.1 million during his seven-year NFL career, according to Spotrac, so the $7.8 million he was defrauded of Narayan represents approximately 11 percent of his career earnings. In a statement (again via ESPN), Sanchez said that he had agreed to invest only $100,000 "because it is such a risky investment, I would not have knowingly invested additional funds in [the business] -- much less committed millions of dollars to that company."

Per Bloomberg.com, Sanchez met Narayan shortly after he was drafted in 2009 and agreed to invest with Narayan because he felt Narayan was a devout Christian and highly qualified. He subsequently had his paychecks deposited directly into an investment account, from which Narayan fraudulently redirected the money to the Ticket Reserve investment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Narayan as well as The Ticker Reserve, and the company's CEO and COO, Richard Harmon and John Kaprotsky. The suit alleges that all three violated antifraud provisions of federal securities laws and a related SEC antifraud rule, and also alleges that Narayan violated the antifraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.