{"id":1038089,"date":"2026-09-02T03:39:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T03:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1038089\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T03:39:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T03:39:32","slug":"emmitt-smith-accused-of-cheating-native-american-tribe-out-of-2-5-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1038089\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmitt Smith accused of cheating Native American tribe out of $2.5 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

NFL legend Emmitt Smith is being accused of conning a Native American investor out of $2.5 million as part of an alleged solar project scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, which was filed in Delaware on Monday, alleges that Kituwah LLC, the investment and economic development arm of the Band of Cherokee Indians, loaned the $2.5 million after it was convinced to join the project by Smith, his business partner David Mosley, and their real estate company, 4 13 Solutions Inc., Front Office Sports reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The suit against the Hall of Famer and NFL all-time rushing leader is seeking at least $2.5 million, along with interest, costs, expenses, and any additional damages to be determined at trial.<\/p>\n

The loan is now more than two years past due, and Kituwah alleges that it has \u201cnot recovered a penny.\u201d It also alleges that the money was really used to pay back a company that had previously invested in a venture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"EmmittEmmitt Smith reacts after a shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cKituwah poured substantial time, efforts, and resources in the purported joint venture,\u201d the suit states. \u201cNot only has Kituwah not seen any returns on its investment, Kituwah has been forced to expend additional costs in efforts to reclaim the amounts it is still owed pursuant to its investment, including to investigate what happened to its money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also labeled the whole thing a \u201cploy,\u201d and Kituwah found itself being given a \u201csteady stream of lies\u201d about a deal that first came onto the radar in early 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kituwah was told it would be a partner in the Project Exodus solar farm that was being planned, and it would eventually receive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The suit claims the loan was made with \u201cfalse projections and data\u201d and that it had been promised a loan repayment \u201cin a matter of months.\u201d It also expected the solar farm to be up and running by 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kituwah describes the whole thing \u201cessentially, like a Ponzi scheme\u201d and claims that after it launched its own investigation into what happened with the money, it discovered the money was earmarked to \u201cimproperly pay\u201d Wilson Holdings, which had partnered with Smith and the other defendants on other investments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DallasDallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith runs in for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during second-half action at Texas Stadium in Irving on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2002. The 49ers defeated the Cowboys 31-27. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite 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 \u2026 had really been used,\u201d Kituwah wrote in its complaint, per Courthouse News Service<\/a>. \u201cTheir lack of disclosure is telling and only further confirms 4 13 Solutions\u2019 fraudulent intent and the wrongful nature of the payment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, 57, has not played in the NFL since 2004, but helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls in the 1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL legend Emmitt Smith is being accused of conning a Native American investor out of $2.5 million as…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1038090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[39],"tags":[8998,110699,44918,1232,23912,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1038089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-emmitt-smith","tag-native-americans","tag-nfl","tag-solar-power","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117199372312183110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1038090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}