(WWJ) A multi-billion-dollar entertainment project planned for Romulus turned out to be a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme, according to federal authorities.
This spring, Motown Sports Group announced a plan to build a $3 billion, 452-acre youth sports complex near Metro Airport.
The plans included a 9,000-plus seat stadium, 12 basketball and volleyball courts, four hockey rinks, an IMAX theater, and an indoor water park, just to name a few.
Some believed that all this sounded a little bit too good to be true, and it turned out it was.
The FBI has announced that chairman of the group, Kenneth Bardwell has been charged in a criminal complaint with one count of wire fraud.
According to a release by federal prosecutors on Thursday, Bardwell told investors their money would be used to purchase land and develop the project.
But a criminal complaint said Bardwell has made almost no effort to buy the land to develop the project.
He instead spent most of the investors' money on "gentleman’s clubs, luxury retail goods, rental cars, and living expenses for himself, his wife and his girlfriend," according to the complaint.
- View a copy of the criminal complaint -
A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.
The chairman of Motown Sports Group is facing federal charges
The chairman of Motown Sports Group is facing federal charges
