Judge dismisses Darren McFadden case

It’s last of his 3 federal suits

Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden (20) celebrates his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. The Cowboys defeated the Redskins 19-16. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The last of three federal lawsuits pursued by Darren McFadden, a former Arkansas running back who claimed his former financial adviser stole millions of dollars from him over several years dating back to 2008, was recently dismissed without a public explanation.

In a judgment declaring "all relief sought is denied, and the case is closed," U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. said the dismissal was "consistent with" another order that he filed under seal on the same day -- Dec. 16.

As has been the case for months, attorneys involved in all three related cases have refused to comment, even to confirm that a settlement was reached.

On Monday, however, an attorney for Simmons Bank, the lone remaining defendant in a 2016 lawsuit that was originally filed against Metropolitan Bank, which Simmons bought out of bankruptcy in 2013, filed documents seeking to recuperate $25,547 in fees and costs on behalf of the Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull law firm of Little Rock. Attached were four pages of documentation, mostly blacked out except for brief references to photocopies and to some deposition and transcript costs.

McFadden alleged that Metropolitan facilitated the theft of over $11 million by McFadden's former financial advisor by failing to provide reasonable oversight on McFadden's accounts.

The last document filed in federal court before the Dec. 16 dismissal order was a July 23 order canceling a jury trial that had been scheduled to begin on Aug.12. In that order, Moody said he was removing the case from the trial docket, as opposed to simply rescheduling it, but he didn't elaborate.

Public records show that in the months before the cancellation, McFadden's former financial adviser, Michael Vick of Little Rock, sold two homes that belonged to him and his wife, Carla, and according to Arkansas Business, also sold a 696-square-foot office building at 5521 Mabelvale Pike for $200,000.

The homes, featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Top Six most expensive homes sold in Little Rock during weeks in February and May, included a 7,045-square-foot house at 1510 S. Schiller St. that sold for $410,000 and a 7,034-square-foot house at 15312 Joiner Road that sold for $700,000.

On Dec. 10, McFadden became the 11th University of Arkansas player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, during a ceremony in New York.

McFadden, a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up, two-time All-American and the Razorbacks' all-time leading rusher with 4,590 yards, retired from football in late November 2017. The Little Rock native started out playing at Pulaski Oak Grove High School before playing three seasons at Arkansas, from 2005-07. Then he entered the 2008 NFL Draft and was selected in the first round -- fourth overall -- by the Oakland Raiders.

In 2017, McFadden filed two more federal lawsuits related to Vick's role as his financial adviser. Vick isn't the former NFL player of the same name who went to prison for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring.

One of those suits alleged that Vick fraudulently transferred real estate to his sister and her husband to hide his assets as a result of the lawsuit that was just dismissed, which originally named the Vicks, two companies that were owned or controlled by Vick, and Simmons.

The fraudulent-transfer case was permanently dismissed on Dec. 21, 2018, by now-retired U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes, at the request of McFadden, who didn't cite a reason for dropping the case but said both sides would pay their own attorneys' fees and costs. The case had been set for a jury trial beginning Feb. 19, 2019.

The other suit named as a defendant Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., for which Vick worked when he began managing McFadden's finances. That case was put on hold in July 2017 to allow the parties to pursue arbitration proceedings before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

On Aug. 16, Moody granted McFadden's unopposed motion to permanently dismiss the case. That order followed a joint status report filed June 4 stating "the parties have reached an agreement in principle resolving the claims pending before the [Financial Industry Regulatory Authority]." The agreement was forged ahead of a final arbitration hearing scheduled to begin June 24.

Metro on 01/02/2020