The San Diego footage provides a local glimpse into the carefully cultivated professional-athlete and luxury lifestyle that federal investigators allege Daejon Labrayae Love used to convince women he was both an NFL player and enormously successful investor as part of a sprawling alleged fraud scheme that collected approximately $1.3 million.
Love, 35, and alleged accomplice Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, have been charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud after federal investigators say the pair collected approximately $1.3 million from at least 26 women in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The FBI says it believes additional victims have not yet come forward.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, the alleged scheme began in February 2022 and continued for more than four years, ending only when Love and Chan were apprehended at Boise Airport in Idaho on August 24. Federal authorities allege Love created fictitious personas and cultivated the appearance of extraordinary wealth, frequently presenting himself as either an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers or a successful real estate investor.
Love's public-facing persona appears to have been carefully constructed. Social-media photographs and videos showed him dressed in 49ers apparel, wearing and carrying custom football helmets, driving luxury vehicles and otherwise projecting the lifestyle of a professional athlete, while prosecutors say he met most of the women targeted in the alleged scheme through dating apps and developed romantic relationships with many of them.
SanDiegoVille has identified multiple social-media videos placing Love in San Diego and showing him publicly performing the professional-football persona that federal investigators allege was central to the scheme. In videos reviewed by SanDiegoVille, Love can be seen wearing a San Francisco 49ers helmet and running football routes on the sand in San Diego's Mission Beach area, while other footage shows him training at FIT Athletic Club in Mission Beach wearing 49ers apparel and carrying a football.
Other videos reviewed by SanDiegoVille show Love driving a red Lamborghini on streets around San Diego, further connecting the luxury lifestyle he projected online to the city. The local footage is particularly notable because prosecutors allege Love used 49ers apparel, custom football helmets, luxury vehicles, fabricated financial accounts and social-media content to convince women that he was both a professional football player and extraordinarily wealthy.
Love's online persona extended well beyond the San Diego footage. In one widely circulated "NFL Journey" video, Love discussed how he purportedly became involved with the league while driving what he described as his new McLaren. During the video, he addressed questions about his apparent wealth, including how he could afford a roughly $500,000 car and a $300,000 Lamborghini Urus.
Another video that has circulated since his arrest appears to show Love signing what he represented as an NFL contract and announcing that he was signing with the "Niners." According to an FBI affidavit, representatives for both the NFL and San Francisco 49ers told investigators that Love had never been employed by either organization.
The contrast between the professional-football image portrayed online and the allegations now contained in federal court records has generated considerable attention on social media. Commenters have particularly fixated on footage showing Love wearing a 49ers helmet while running routes on the beach, with one widely liked response joking, "That route he ran shoulda told everyone everything they needed to know."
Another commenter wrote, "Bro had the Helmet on at the beach," while others similarly focused on Love apparently carrying and wearing the helmet in everyday settings. The imagery that allegedly helped reinforce his purported football career has consequently become a source of ridicule online following his arrest.
At least one commenter also claimed to have encountered Love away from social media, alleging that he would visit a Dick's Sporting Goods store where the commenter worked, claim he played for the 49ers and say he was sponsored by Nike in an effort to obtain free merchandise. SanDiegoVille has not independently verified that account, and the commenter did not specify where or when the alleged encounters occurred.
Prosecutors allege romantic relationships were a central part of the broader operation. Love allegedly convinced numerous women that their relationships were genuine, told them he wanted to build a wealthy future together and represented that Chan was his financial adviser who had helped him accumulate a fortune worth tens of millions of dollars.
Chan allegedly played an active supporting role rather than merely appearing in the background. Investigators say he posed as Love's investment adviser, exchanged staged investment-related messages with Love and participated in three-way FaceTime calls during which the pair allegedly showed women fabricated investment gains and encouraged them to put additional money into purported opportunities.
The investments, according to federal prosecutors, did not exist. Love allegedly used phone applications to manufacture fake bank and investment accounts displaying enormous balances, while screenshots of purported conversations with Chan were passed along to victims as additional evidence that Love was the successful investor he claimed to be.
The allegations became particularly damaging for women who did not have readily available money. Prosecutors say Love sometimes encouraged victims to take out personal loans so they could invest or lend him additional funds, promising they would quickly be repaid.
Investigators say none of the identified and interviewed victims reported receiving investment proceeds, returns of principal or even legitimate investment-account information after turning over their money. Financial records reviewed during the investigation allegedly show approximately $1.3 million flowing to Love and Chan from victim investors.
Once a woman ran out of money or began asking too many questions, prosecutors allege Love simply cut her off. Federal authorities say he blocked communications while retaining the money.
Love also allegedly operated under a rotating collection of identities. The Justice Department says names he has used in furtherance of the alleged scheme include Jon Love, Daejon Love, Avril Lyto Love and Jordan Love, potentially complicating efforts to determine the full universe of people who encountered him online or in person.
The investigation remained active almost until the moment of the arrests. Federal warrants and a criminal complaint were issued August 17, and investigators say Chan flew from California to Boise on August 24 to meet Love. Authorities apprehended both men at Boise Airport and say investigators learned Love was in Idaho for the purpose of meeting new prospective victims.
Investigators also reconstructed an unusually extensive travel pattern immediately before the arrests. From July 15 through August 24 alone, authorities say Love traveled through New Mexico, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Idaho, underscoring the multistate nature of the investigation and raising the possibility that people outside the presently identified victim pool may have encountered him.
Love's documented social-media activity around Mission Beach and elsewhere in San Diego therefore adds another geographic dimension to the investigation. Federal authorities have confirmed that California was among the states where women were allegedly defrauded and that Love traveled through California during the final weeks before his arrest, although publicly released federal documents do not specify whether any of the 26 currently identified victims were from San Diego County or establish that fraudulent transactions occurred here.
The San Diego connection could prove particularly relevant as investigators search for additional potential victims. Love's presence in Mission Beach, local gym activity and videos showing him driving around the city do not themselves establish that anyone in San Diego was defrauded, but the FBI has made clear that it does not believe the 26 identified women necessarily represent the full scope of the alleged operation.
Federal authorities are specifically asking anyone with information about Love or Chan to contact investigators. Tips may be submitted through the FBI's online tip portal or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Love and Chan remain accused, not convicted. The charges contained in the federal criminal complaint are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Originally published on August 28, 2026.
