Cherokee Agency Sues Emmitt Smith Over Alleged $2.5M Solar Farm Fraud
A Cherokee-led economic development group has sued NFL legend Emmitt Smith, claiming he misused a $2.5M loan meant to fund a Texas solar farm.
Cherokee Agency Takes Emmitt Smith to Court Over Alleged $2.5 Million Fraud
A Native American economic development agency has sued former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and several business associates in Delaware chancery court, alleging the NFL's all-time leading rusher diverted $2.5 million in loan funds intended for a Texas solar energy project. Courthouse News Service reports the lawsuit was filed Monday by Kituwah LLC, a business group owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
At the center of the dispute is 4 13 Solutions, a real estate and energy company co-founded by Smith and businessman David Mosley. In early 2023, according to Kituwah, the firm approached the Cherokee group with what it described as an investment opportunity: a planned solar farm in Texas known as "Project Exodus."
Smith and Mosley allegedly told Kituwah it would need to contribute $2.5 million to launch a joint venture around the project. In exchange, 4 13 Solutions promised shared ownership and control of the venture, a U.S. Department of Energy loan for permanent financing, and millions of dollars in income from the solar farm by the end of 2024. The two sides agreed to form a joint LLC called Jabez 4 10, and Kituwah transferred the $2.5 million loan in September 2023.
None of those commitments were met, the Cherokee agency alleges.
Rather than sharing governance of the joint venture, 4 13 Solutions allegedly excluded Kituwah from any management role. To date, the agency says it has received no visibility into the joint company's finances. No federal loan or private alternative was ever secured, and the defendants have provided no evidence of "any meaningful progress toward completion" of the solar farm, according to the complaint.
Most critically, Kituwah claims the $2.5 million was not used for the solar project at all. Instead, the funds were allegedly funneled to a minority owner of the joint venture who was owed money from a prior investment — a transaction Kituwah describes in its filing as "essentially, like a Ponzi scheme."
Over the months that followed, Kituwah repeatedly asked 4 13 Solutions to repay the loan. Each time, Smith and Mosley allegedly "come up with a different excuse," before eventually cutting off contact with Kituwah altogether.
"Despite being present on multiple calls where Kituwah asked repeated questions about the [loan and joint venture agreement], neither the principals of 4 13 Solutions nor Wilson Holdings disclosed how the loan proceeds … had really been used," the agency wrote in its complaint. "Their lack of disclosure is telling and only further confirms 4 13 Solution's fraudulent intent and the wrongful nature of the payment."
Kituwah is seeking at least $2.5 million in damages, plus interest. Representatives for 4 13 Solutions had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Source: Courthouse News Service