On Friday, Manti Te’o said his “girlfriend” had once asked him for his checking account number so she could deposit money into Te’os account. Te’o said he never gave her his checking account number.
“I’m not giving my checking account number,” Te’o told ESPN in his first interview since the revelations of the girlfriend hoax became public on Wednesday. “I don’t care who you are. I’m not giving my checking account number out to you.”
Te’o said “Lennay Kekua,” the “girlfriend,” then asked Te’o best friend Robbie for his checking account, offering to help him with “groceries or help you guys pay for the bills for the house.”
“I told him, whatever you do, do not give out your checking account number,” Te’o said.
Te’o said this did not raise alarm bells for him because he went to the Notre Dame credit union and asked whether someone could pull money out of his checking account if they could deposit money into it.
They told him they could not take money out and, so, Te’o said, “that red flag went immediately down.”
Had Te’o accepted money from “Lennay Kekua,” he could have been in danger of violating NCAA rules and been ruled ineligible for Notre Dame football games.