Former Georgia head coach Jim Donnan has been accused of orchestrating an $80 million Ponzi scheme. This photo from October 1998 shows Donnan looking down during a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at the Sanford Stadium in Athens, Geogia. (Photo: Vincent Laforet /Allsport)
ATLANTA (AP) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing former University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme.
The SEC said Thursday that college coaches and former players lost millions of dollars in the $80 million scheme. The regulators say Donnan orchestrated the fraud with his business partner through West Virginia-based GLC Limited.
The SEC's complaint charges Donnan and his business partner, Gregory L. Crabtree of Ohio, with violating federal securities laws.
Donnan led teams at Marshall University and the University of Georgia and later became a television commentator for ESPN.
Donnan's attorney has previously acknowledged the former coach was paid lucrative commissions, but he said Donnan believed he was being paid from legitimate profits earned by the company.