He had assumed that Auburn had investigated Mr. Stroud as a possible donor. Jerry Smith, a local fundraising consultant who has worked with the athletics department, met with Mr. Stroud, but had concerns.
“I couldn’t say if the guy was real or not, he talked about a good game,” Smith said in an interview. “I just didn’t believe some of the stories I was telling.”
Investors in the fund included friends of Mr. Tuberville, some of whom had connections to the Auburn and Texas Tech soccer programs. Mr. Stroud’s former clients also invested, as well as small business employees. A retired accountant and teacher couple invested more than $ 800,000.
Things seemed to work smoothly for a while, and the two men even made a cameo in the 2009 soccer movie “The Blind Side”. But the problems started in 2011, when Mr. Tuberville received a call from Mr. Stroud’s chief operating officer, Baron Lowe, whom he had not met.
“Coach, he is not paying his bills,” said Lowe, who would later become a plaintiff in the civil lawsuit against Mr. Tuberville, according to court records. Mr. Tuberville called Mr. Stroud, who said, “I am a little behind.” Mr. Tuberville told Mr. Stroud to speak to Mr. Lowe, adding, “I am training and I don’t have enough time to get into his business and mine at the same time.”
Mr. Lowe, who said at the time that the situation had “the optics of a Ponzi scheme,” according to court records, stated that Mr. Tuberville assured him that all investments would be repaid. They were not. Glen Williams, another company investor and employee, said Mr. Tuberville stopped returning his calls in October of that year, records show.
Mr. Tuberville testified that he told Mr. Stroud to pay everyone, but was clearly alarmed. In a text message, he said to Mr. Stroud: “I heard that the state securities commission is coming to investigate. I hope you have everything in order. Giving me a call.”
