Former NBA star Kevin Garnett sues accountant for theft of millions from him

The one-time superstar believes his accountant allowed an exorbitant amount of money to be diverted from him

Sep 7, 2018

Kevin Garnett has filed a lawsuit against an accountant and the accountant’s firm, alleging he was defrauded out of $77 million.

The retired Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves player filed the federal malpractice lawsuit alleging that Michael Wertheim and Welenken CPAs, based in Kentucky, allowed Charles Banks IV, a wealth manager in Atlanta, to steal money from Garnett through businesses in which Banks and Garnett shared a mutual interest, according to the Associated Press.

In the lawsuit, Garnett claims Wertheim “possessed actual knowledge that Banks was helping himself to millions of dollars of Garnett’s money and did nothing about it.”

Greg Simpson, attorney for Wertheim, told the Star-Tribune that his clients deny any wrongdoing and will “vigorously” fight the lawsuit.

Banks is not named in the lawsuit. He was sentenced last year to four years in prison for defrauding another NBA star, Tim Duncan, out of millions of dollars, according to Yahoo! Sports.