Lawyer Who Defrauded Charles Barkley Stuck With SEC Judgment (1)

A lawyer who used former NBA star Charles Barkley’s $2.15 million investment in his waste technology company on a personal plane failed in his bid to get the Eleventh Circuit to overturn a judgment for the SEC.

Donald V. Watkins Sr. solicited loans from Barkley in emails promising investment opportunities with Masada Resources LLC and faced a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit when he misappropriated the money.

The agency’s summary judgment win stands because it’s “undisputed” that Watkins and Masada’s representations to Barkley were “patently false,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in an unpublished ...