Feds Investigating Former Kings Exec For Reportedly Stealing $13.4 Million To Buy Beach Houses

According to a report from the , former Kings exec Jeffrey David embezzled $13.4 million from two Kings sponsors and used the money to buy beach houses in Southern California. David allegedly took $9 million from Golden 1 Credit Union, title sponsor for the Kings arena, and another $4.3 million from Kaiser Permanente, which he used to buy a beach house in Hermosa Beach in 2016 as well as a condo in Manhattan Beach in 2017.

No criminal charges have been filed against David yet, though the team confirmed to the Bee that FBI officials are investigating the case after they referred it to them last week. Additionally, the Department of Justice has already started the “formal process of recovering and seizing the properties involved in the investigation.” David first worked for the Kings from 2006 to 2010, returning to the team at David Stern’s behest in 2011 after a stint with the NBA. He served as the Kings’ chief revenue officer until he left this June, and he was hired into the same position by the Miami Heat a month later.

Per documents viewed by the Bee, David founded an entity called Sacramento Sports Partners LLC in 2015, and he convinced Kaiser and Golden 1 to make advance payments to what they thought was the team in exchange for lower payments later. Both organizations agreed, and sent money to Sacramento Sports Partners, which then purchased the houses in Southern California. David is reportedly not named in the documents, though he is under investigation, and federal officials ruled that the houses in question were purchased with “proceeds stemming from money laundering and racketeering.”

The Kings conducted an internal investigation after they noticed a suspicious folder on David’s computer. The team reportedly found emails where David was negotiating the purchase of a $3 million private jet:

A Kings employee “came across a folder labeled ‘Turbo Tax,’” the team documents say. “The folder listed four documents that contained information related to Depreciation and Amortization schedules for ‘Sacramento Sports Partners LLC.’”

The Kings employee “did not recognize the entity and questioned why a business-related entity would have depreciation schedules related to two residences, furniture and a golf cart,” the documents say.

The Bee reached out to the Heat, who placed David on leave, and released a statement pledging their full cooperation to the federal investigation.

[ Sacramento Bee]