We’ve made the joke before, but this is probably going to be a Netflix documentary someday.
We always thought the proposed $3B Motown Sports Village project was too grandiose to actually happen. Which is why we’ve always written about it with great skepticism.
It was allegedly something else, according to the FBI: A colossal — and salacious! — scam.
Kenneth Bardwell — the chairman and CEO of the holding company behind the project — was indicted earlier this week on a single count of wire fraud. He was released on $10K bond.
This case differs from the Legacy Park fraud case because, according to the FBI, Bardwell was not terribly concerned with actually building the place.
The criminal complaint filed in Michigan federal court alleges Bardwell “has made almost no effort to use the millions of dollars solicited from hundreds, possibly thousands, of community members as investments towards the purchase of land needed to develop the project, instead using most of the investors’ money on gentleman’s clubs, luxury retail goods, rental cars, and living expenses for himself, his wife and his girlfriend.”
The complaint does not put a dollar figure on Bardwell’s alleged fraud, but it did find roughly $10M moved in and out of several bank accounts tied to the Motown project over the past few years.
Bardwell is also said to have claimed the project had 1.8K investors; the FBI is actively searching for potential victims.
The complaint says the scheme dates back to 2018, but adds Bardwell has made several failed attempts to build youth sports facilities in various cities since 2009, as we’ve previously noted.
Also alleged in the complaint:
Bardwell frequented gentleman’s clubs; an informant said he spent $40-50K weekly at one establishment
Bardwell hired five cops to be his personal security detail because he was “highly paranoid of federal law enforcement”
He was banned from at least one club and tried to buy his way back in
Bardwell hired exotic dancers to work for Motown Sports and paid them for untoward acts
Bardwell drove luxury rental cars rented under others’ names
Motown Sports operated out of a FedEx store location
Bardwell did have a deposit down to hold land for the project
Bardwell told investors there would be a future IPO and another complex in Georgia
The FBI says Bardwell’s wife also benefited from the scheme, but she is not charged
City officials in Romulus gave the project tepid support, but also expressed public doubts. They eventually concluded it was a scam, according to the criminal complaint.
Motown Sports contracted with JLL Capital Markets earlier this year as its “exclusive financial intermediary,” tasking the real estate banker with sourcing $40-50M for pre-development. The company also claimed AECOM and Legends Global were involved to some extent.
A victim told the FBI they attended a meeting where JLL identified an investor interested in providing up to $300M — but Bardwell scuttled the deal because he knew it would not happen once the investor looked at the books.
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