John David Stroud, business partner with Texas Tech head football coach Tommy Tuberville, said he did no wrong in investing people's money in his Alabama firm and Tuberville wasn't involved in daily operations and never solicited investments.

Stroud's statement, released through his attorney, came about a week after a lawsuit claimed the pair bilked seven customers of TS Capital out of about $1.7 million.

Those seven people, including some former employees of TS Capital Partners LLC, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Montgomery on Friday.

After football practice Wednesday, Tuberville said, "Lawsuits are pretty serious, obviously, and so we'll let the lawyers handle that. I feel real good about it, but we'll have to wait and see."

Harris Kay, a Chicago-based attorney representing Stroud, said in the statement, "(Stroud) did not solicit the plaintiffs to invest with TS Capital and did not engage in the conduct of which he is accused."

He further absolved Tuberville of any responsibility.

"Indeed, some of the plaintiffs were employees of TS Capital and were closely involved in the matters of which they complain in the lawsuit," Kay said in the statement. "It is disingenuous and incorrect for them to claim now that Mr. Stroud or Coach Tuberville acted improperly with respect to any of them. Given Coach Tuberville's lack of involvement with the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as the fact that he did not solicit the plaintiffs, Mr. Stroud can only surmise that he was named in this lawsuit to garner unwarranted media attention, which has apparently succeeded. Mr. Stroud will vigorously defend the accusations made against him."

Tuberville was a managing partner of the firm while he was head coach at Auburn University, a position he held for nearly a decade. Tuberville resigned from Auburn after the 2008 season. He has served as head football coach at Tech since Jan.9, 2010.

Tuberville said he got into the investments business about three or four years ago and met Stroud about that time.

Tuberville's attorney, Vic Hayslip of Birmingham, Ala., released a statement Tuesday saying Tuberville was surprised to learn of the lawsuit, and he denies any wrongdoing.

The attorney said Tuberville invested $450,000 with the firm and has never received any return from his investment.

Tuberville has cooperated with regulatory inquiries, which have not blamed him, Hayslip said in the statement.

On Wednesday, Hayslip said Kay's statement confirms Tuberville had an investment with the firm, but was not involved in any day-to-day operations or management.

"Coach Tuberville has had nothing to do with these plaintiffs' investments," Hayslip said Wednesday. "He did not solicit investments, encourage investments or manage investments. He had absolutely nothing to do with their investments."

The 32-page complaint alleges Tuberville and Stroud failed to file tax returns and falsified fund performance reports and client statements. The 16-count civil lawsuit also accuses the two of co-mingling investors' funds with theirs. In October, the National Futures Association ordered TS Capital to quit soliciting funds

Most of the plaintiffs have asked for their money back, but it hasn't been returned or accounted for, according to the complaint.

When reached by phone Wednesday, Barbara Wells, an attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to comment.

(Avalanche-Journal sports reporter Don Williams contributed to this story.)

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