San Antonio Spurs superstar Tim Duncan brought a lawsuit against his former financial/investment advisor in response to what he asserts is financial fraud, according to recent San Antonio federal court records.
Duncan’s suit, filed Nov. 10 in the San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas, accuses Atlanta resident Charles Banks of defrauding the five-time NBA champion of $1.1 million. The money in question, the suit says, went toward a cosmetic company was called Metier Tribeca LLC, which was doing business as Le Metier de Beaute.
The suit is among the legal complaints Duncan launched on grounds he was swindled out of millions.
Banks purportedly expressed mistrust in Metier after reviewing the business’s books and records, but nonetheless contacted the plaintiff about fronting the $1.1 million in late 2012.
“Relying on his trust/fiduciary relationship with Banks and without the benefit of the information Banks had acquired, Duncan authorized a wire from Comerica Bank to fund the recommended $1.1 million investment,” the original petition says.
It further explains that though Duncan funded the investment, he “had not been asked to sign any investment documents” nor was obligated “to provide additional investment funds via capital calls or any other mechanism.”
The defendant in early 2013 discovered accounting irregularities on the part of Metier “including apparent fraudulent activity” of which Duncan never knew about, the suit says.
Duncan states that Banks assured him in a text “all good news” regarding Metier.
Later that year, however, the respondent sued Metier in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York. Metier subsequently filed for bankruptcy at the start of 2014.
Duncan, who was taken first by the Spurs in the 1997 NBA Draft, ultimately faults Banks in the suit for numerous offenses, including but not limited to breach of fiduciary duty and common law fraud.
“Duncan will continue to suffer damages in the future,” the suit says. “Duncan is entitled to recover the damages resulting from this breach.”
Attorneys Richard C. Danysh, J. Tullos Wells, Michael D. Bernard and Jacqueline Garza-Rothrock of the law firm Brace Well & Giuliani LLP in San Antonio is representing the complainant.
San Antonio Division of the Western District of Texas Case No. 5:15-CV-148-XR