Pro golfer Dustin Johnson has filed a $4 million federal lawsuit against a former Alpharetta financial adviser who Johnson said persuaded him to lend money to a financially troubled law firm that never repaid him.
The suit was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against Roy Anthony Adams and Alliance of Financial Professionals LLC of Alpharetta.
Through a spokesman, Adams and Alliance Financial Professionals disputed Johnson’s claims and said they would vigorously contest the lawsuit. Johnson could not be reached for comment.
It’s the latest legal battle involving a once-prominent Atlanta real estate law firm and the ninth-ranked PGA Tour golfer who appeared most recently at the U.S. Open in June.
Johnson filed a similar suit last year against Morris Schneider Wittstadt, formerly known as Morris Hardwick Schneider, claiming the firm, through one of its founding partners, received a $3 million loan from the golfer but failed to repay the money, along with $1 million extra for providing the loan.
Morris Schneider Wittstadt filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy court protection from its creditors in July.
Johnson said Adams, a financial adviser at the time, persuaded him to lend the money to the law firm through founding partner Nathan Hardwick IV. The firm later accused Hardwick of embezzling $30 million by raiding escrow and other accounts.
Johnson’s suit said Adams, unbeknownst to the golfer, sought his money to help the law firm shore up its escrow account. The suit says Adams represented both the firm and Hardwick, and that the golfer would never have lent the money if he had known a conflict of interest existed.
Last year, Mark Wittstadt and Gerard Wittstadt of Morris Schneider Wittstadt asked a judge to dismiss Johnson's suit, arguing that, like Johnson, they were also victims of Hardwick.
Johnson said he provided the money in August 2014 but never received any payments from the firm. In October, the golfer said in his suit, he emailed Adams, asking: “Please get my 3 million back from that investment […] call me if you have any questions.” He said Adams responded: “Got it. I’ll do my best!”
Johnson, however, said he never received the money or loan documents he also had requested.
Through a spokesman, Adams and Alliance Financial Professionals disputed Johnson’s claims:
“Mr. Johnson loaned $3 million for a law firm managed by his friend and advisor, Nat Hardwick,” spokesman Mark Lefkow told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “While Mr. Johnson claims that he received advance approval of the loan by Mr. Adams, the documents attached to Mr. Johnson’s Complaint as proof are all dated months after the loan.”
Lefkow added, “Mr. Adams and AFP look forward to further facts coming out in this case, facts which will clear them of any wrongdoing.”
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