Earlier this month 16 current and former National Football
League players filed suit against Branch Banking and Trust Co. in the U.S.
District Court in Miami for $53 million in losses caused by the bank allowing a
financial advisory firm to loot the players accounts.
The players, who include Ray Lewis,
Jevon Kearse, Santonio Holmes, Clinton Portis, Brandon Meriweather, and others,
allege that BB&T is the successor-in-interest to BankAtlantic, which opened
several checking accounts based on forged signatures and allowed the players’
financial advisor, Jeff Rubin, to withdraw tens of millions of dollars without
their knowledge or consent. Last year
Rubin was stripped of his securities license by the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority, in part because of conduct that at issue in the recently
filed lawsuit.
The players allege that Rubin made
unauthorized transactions including loans and other transfers to a failed
casino project in Alabama known as Country Crossing. The casino was shut down soon after it opened
because the state governments deemed it to be illegal gambling under Alabama
law.
Block & Landsman is part of the
group of attorneys representing the players in their lawsuit against
BB&T.
