ATLANTA (AP) -- Former NFL player Kendrell
Bell has accused his college football coach at the University of Georgia
of duping him out of $2 million.
Jim Donnan convinced Bell to invest the
money in GLC Limited, a liquidation company that would buy appliances
and furniture for resale, according to documents filed last month in
U.S. Bankruptcy Court by Bell's lawyers. Bell's attorneys say Donnan,
though, was the front man for a scam. Donnan has filed for bankruptcy
protection and Bell has filed a claim in bankruptcy court to recover his
money.
Bell's attorneys Michael Hanson and
Brian Gwitt on Friday declined to comment on the case. Donnan's lawyer
Ed Tolley did not return a phone call and an email seeking comment but
had said previously that the ex-coach was not involved in a scheme.
Donnan has been entangled in a legal
battle with the new operators of GLC, who have also accused the College
Football Hall of Fame inductee of running an investment scheme for his
own profit. Federal prosecutors have not charged Donnan. It wasn't
immediately clear whether federal authorities are investigating, and an
FBI spokesman declined comment.
GLC is being restructured in an Ohio
bankruptcy court after filing for protection in February. The new
operators were seeking to recoup what they said were improper gains
Donnan received after convincing fellow college coaches and others to
invest $70 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Donnan, who coached at UGA from 1996 to
2000 and is an ex-ESPN analyst, filed for bankruptcy protection in July
amid GLC's financial woes.
Donnan's attorney has acknowledged his
client was paid lucrative commissions, but he said Donnan believed he
was being paid from legitimate profits earned by the company. In a
proposed settlement that Donnan later abandoned, he said he sought to
pay back some of the winnings since late 2010, when he discovered the
money he was earning came from other investors he helped recruit.
Donnan also helped attract other
prominent figures to invest. Among the names listed in federal filings
are Texas State football coach Dennis Franchione, Virginia Tech football
coach Frank Beamer, ex-Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, Texas Tech
football coach Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech basketball coach Billy
Gillispie and North Carolina State basketball coach Mark Gottfried.
Bell played seven seasons as linebacker
in the NFL, first for the Pittsburgh Steelers, then the Kansas City
Chiefs. He filed a proof of claim in Donnan's bankruptcy case and last
month asked a federal court in Georgia to extend the deadline for him to
file an action that would prevent the money he says Donnan owes him
from being wiped out in bankruptcy proceedings.
The relationship between a college
football player and his players "is very intimate and is built on
trust," Bell said in a court filing. Even as GLC and Donnan and his wife
filed for bankruptcy, Donnan repeatedly assured him, "Coach is going to
take care of you," Bell said. Because Donnan told him not to speak to
lawyers or reporters, Bell missed a deadline to keep Donnan's alleged
debts to him from being wiped out by bankruptcy proceedings, according
to the court filing.
