NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith is accused of cheating tribal investors out of $2.5 million, according to a lawsuit.
A Native American investor claims Smith cheated him in a solar project deal called Project Exodus. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Delaware’s Chancery Court, The Athletic reports.
Kituwah LLC, an investment arm of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is seeking $2.5 million in damages from Smith, 57, and his business partner, David Mosley. Smith and Mosley are partners in a commercial real estate company, 4 13 Solutions Inc.
The lawsuit claims Smith and Mosley used the investors’ money to pay a third company, Wilson Holdings, for “compensation for prior unsuccessful loans and investments,” ESPN reports.
“Allegedly, the payment to Wilson Holdings was compensation for prior unsuccessful loans and investments that it made with 4 13 Solutions,” the complaint reads. “Although the parties had entered into a contract to pay Wilson Holdings if Project Exodus had obtained permanent financing, that condition never came to pass. Smith and Mosley, through 4 13 Solutions, nonetheless misdirected Kituwah’s funds to pay Wilson Holdings, all the while representing to Kituwah that they had used the loan proceeds for their proper purpose.”
Smith was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys out of the University of Florida in 1990. He is the league’s all-time leading rusher, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time.