A federal grand jury in Texas has indicted Tim Duncan’s former advisor Charles Banks on wire fraud charges. Banks had been accused of mishandling over $20 million in investments of Duncan’s money. From Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
The indictment is expected to be unsealed Friday in San Antonio, sources told The Vertical. Banks surrendered to authorities at the federal courthouse on Friday morning.
In a lawsuit filed in 2015, Duncan, a five-time NBA champion, charged that Banks steered him toward multiple investments in hotels, wineries and beauty products despite not revealing Banks’ own financial conflicts of interests in the businesses.
Court records and documents show that Banks had ownership stakes or financial interests in the investments.
Duncan accused Banks of defrauding him on a $7.5 million loan to Gameday, a company that Banks maintained control over. Gameday also received a bank loan with what Duncan says he believed was his signature on a document that would get him $1.5 million in cash back and lower his guarantee exposure. Banks is alleged to have used that signature to increase Duncan’s guarantee exposure to $13.5 million at Comerica Bank instead of $6 million.
The next step in the legal system is to hear Banks’ plea; if he pleads not guilty, the case will go to trial.
Duncan gave a statement on the indictment:
Tim Duncan statement on indictment of ex-financial advisor: "I originally filed my lawsuits against Charles Banks to stop him from doing…"
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) September 9, 2016
Duncan: "…to others what he had done to me and my family. The U.S. Dept. of Justice has just taken a big step in exposing and stopping .."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) September 9, 2016
Tim Duncan: "…his illegal activities. I thank the U.S. Attorney's office and FBI for working tirelessly to bring Banks to justice."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) September 9, 2016
