NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey and former defensive lineman Charles Grant are suing ex-teammate Kevin Houser over investments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to a now-defunct movie studio.
Shockey and Grant paid for what they thought would be state movie industry tax credits returning $1.33 for each dollar they invested.
State officials say Wayne Read, the CEO of the bankrupt Louisiana Film Studios LLC, never applied for the credits and the money was never returned to investors.
Louisiana's film tax credit program is designed to promote the movie industry in the state. Buyers of tax credits get a reduction in the actual amount of income taxes they pay, unlike a deduction, which only reduces taxable income. The credits can be bought and sold.
In a suit filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Grant claims he paid Houser, a licensed securities broker, $425,000 in January 2009 and was to receive $585,000 in tax credits. Shockey said he paid $85,000 and was to receive $113,000 in credits.
But the suit says Houser, then the Saints' long snapper, never produced the tax credits. It also alleges he failed to disclose the studio owed nearly $700,000 to a construction company co-owned by his wife, Kristen.
Houser's attorney, Jimmy Castex, stood by previous statements that the Housers — who paid $125,000 for tax credits themselves and are owed for the construction work — "are victims of Wayne Read, just like Grant and Shockey."
The suit also alleges Houser kept an unspecified commission or finder's fee for the purchases.
In addition to asking for triple damages under Louisiana's unfair trade practices law, the suit before U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan seeks class-action status for anyone who paid for the tax credits through Houser and The suit said that could be as many as 100 buyers.
No working telephone number is listed for Read, who is not named in the suit.
The dispute became public last July after Houser was cut from the team. He played the 2009 season with the Seattle Seahawks. Saints Coach Sean Payton — who court documents say paid $144,000 for the tax credits — has maintained Houser's departure was not related to sale of the investments.
Other buyers included Super Bowl XLIV Most Valuable Player Drew Brees and former Saints star Archie Manning, according to court records.
Last summer, Read said he was looking for other investors in the studio and initial expenses had been higher than anticipated. He said the credits were never applied for because of confusion over what expenses qualified.
Some of the credit buyers, along with Houser, forced the studio into involuntary Chapter 11 reorganization in July. In February, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Magner converted the case into a Chapter 7 liquidation after a court-appointed trustee said it was unlikely the studio could come up with a business reorganization plan to pay off its creditors.
