Tim Duncan has sued his former financial adviser Charles Banks, saying Banks recommended investments that were unsuitable due to conflicts of interests. As a result, Duncan says he sustained losses of approximately $25 million.
According to Duncan, he discovered the substantial financial losses while he was reviewing his finances as a part of his divorce. The alleged losses occurred from 2005 to 2013. According to Duncan, Banks allegedly recommended certain investments that he stood to personally gain from, a factor he did not disclose to Duncan while making the recommendations.
Duncan also claims that Banks made attempts to avoid a lawsuit, saying that he would compensate Duncan for his losses. According to Duncan, he filed the lawsuit because Banks allegedly never followed through with his promise to pay Duncan back.
Duncan’s lawsuit alleges that Banks solicited Duncan to invest in various hotels, merchandise, wineries, and other products – all of which were allegedly owned by Banks or that Banks had a financial stake in. According to a Bloomberg Business article, Bank said that Duncan is using the lawsuit as leverage to get out of limited partnership investments.
While Duncan told Bloomberg Business that he has no plans to proactively go out and warn other young athletes about the potential pitfalls of investing, he said he does hope that what happened to him serves as an example so that the same thing doesn’t happen to more people.
