Royce White accused of embezzling campaign funds by NBA

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Remember the name Royce Blanc?

You’d be excused if you didn’t. White is a former college basketball star at Iowa State, who was selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2012 NBA draft. But he never played a game for the Rockets and has only played three NBA games total (all for the Sacramento Kings), in part because of his fear of flying.

Today, White is a Big 3 player and a failed political candidate. But what’s worse is that the Daily Beast reports that White was caught spending thousands of dollars in campaign funds on strip clubs and luxury items.

“At 5 a.m., a week after Republican Royce White lost his 2022 Minnesota congressional primary, his campaign funneled more than $1,200 in donor funds to a vendor 1,800 miles away not typically associated with political spending: an all-nude strip club in Miami, Florida, called the Gold Rush Cabaret,” the report said. “It’s just one of dozens of extravagant but previously unreported payments that The Daily Beast has identified from White’s 2022 filings with the Federal Election Commission. Several campaign finance experts have called some of these expenditures potentially illegal.”

NBA Draft Knockout Royce White Could Face Jail for Improper Campaign Spending

White has long since lost hope of an NBA career. And with his political aspirations fading, he spends most of his time trolling on Twitter.

But he maintains his innocence regarding campaign financing.

“If the FEC wants to fine us, that’s fine, there are much bigger scams going on with political campaigns,” he told The Daily Beast.

But one expert told The Daily Beast that the failed player could well face prison time.

“This sounds a lot like the kind of thing people go to jail for,” said Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance law expert.

White spent thousands of dollars at various strip clubs. He also bought himself designer clothes and shoes. Several purchases were made After he had already lost the elections.

White maintains his innocence and claims all the expenses were legal. But it looks like he might have a lot of trouble planning the coup.