A previous Sacramento Kings executive is in hot water.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Jeff David, the Kings’ former chief revenue officer, has been accused of embezzling $13.4 million from the team through a complex scheme involving two major corporate sponsors.
An article released by the Bee on Thursday, alleges that David, 44, opened Sacramento Sports Partners LLC, a private company. He then approached Golden 1 Credit Union and Kaiser Permanente Foundation, who both have long-term naming right deals with the Kings, with a plan to advance the Kings a large sum of money in exchange for smaller yearly payments in the future.
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Per the article, Golden 1 agreed to a $9 million advance, which David routed to a bank account under his own private company. Kaiser agreed to a similar agreement, handing over $4.4 million to David.
According to the Bee, David use the funds to purchase a beachfront home in Southern California for $8 million and spent another $1 million remodeling the home. In addition, he purchased another property in Manhattan Beach for $3.4 million in 2017.
A team employee stumbled upon documents labeled “turbo tax,” which opened an internal investigation. The information has since been handed over to the FBI, who are investigating the claims further.
“Last week, we alerted federal law enforcement to suspicious financial transactions involving a former Kings employee, Jeff David,” the Kings told NBC Sports California in an official statement. “That investigation is underway and on Monday, U.S. Department of Justice authorities began the formal process of recovering and seizing the properties involved in the investigation.
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“We appreciate the swift action on behalf of the officials at the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California McGregor Scott as they work to complete this investigation and we will take all appropriate action once it is complete.”
David joined the Kings in 2006 before leaving in 2010 to work for the league offices. He rejoined the club in 2011, before leaving again in June when his position with the team was eliminated.
After leaving the Kings, David began working in a similar position with the Miami Heat in July of this year.
“We are aware of the investigation of Jeff David, which focuses on events that took place prior to his joining our team,” the Heat said in an prepared statement. “We are fully cooperating with the authorities. Jeff David is on leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Charges have yet to be filed against David.