The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Jim Donnan, a former head football coach at the University of Georgia and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, with coordinating an $80-million Ponzi scheme that defrauded other college coaches and former players. The agency’s complaint, filed on Thursday in federal court in Atlanta, accuses Mr. Donnan and an Ohio man of persuading investors to pour millions of dollars into a wholesale liquidation business that they said would yield lucrative returns. The pair raised roughly $80-million from 97 investors in three years, but only $12-million was used for its intended purpose. The remaining $68-million was used to pay fake returns to earlier investors or was stolen by the pair for other purposes, according to the complaint. The agency said that in some instances, Mr. Donnan used his influence to persuade former players to invest. The complaint charges the pair with violating antifraud provisions of federal securities laws.
- 1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W.
- Washington, D.C. 20037
- Copyright © 2013 The Chronicle of Higher Education
