Judge Rules Against Shilo Sanders In Motion To Dismiss Claims Of Making Unauthorized Transfer

The former football player, who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Oct. 2023, is accused of making an unauthorized transfer of approximately $250,000.

In Shilo Sanders’ ongoing bankruptcy trial, a judge denied his request to dismiss a complaint filed by a trustee overseeing the former football player’s bankruptcy case.

According to USA Today, Judge Michael Romero ruled in favor of the trustee, David Wadsworth, who in an Oct. 22 court filing, accused Sanders of violating bankruptcy laws by making unauthorized transfers of around $250,000. The suit sought to recover that money, which included Sanders’ college income from his name, image, and likeness (NIL) through his businesses “Big 21” and “Headache Gang.”

“The Court’s role in deciding the Motion to Dismiss is not to resolve factual disputes or weigh potential evidence outside the four corners of the Complaint,” Romero wrote. “The Trustee has otherwise sufficiently pled the necessary elements of his claims. He has also supported his claims with sufficient factual allegations regarding Sanders’ bank accounts, the deposits of his NIL proceeds into the Big 21 Account, and Sanders’ control over Big 21 and Headache Gang. Whether the evidence will ultimately substantiate the Trustee’s claims is a matter to be decided at trial.”

In October 2023, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after being sued. Sanders never appeared in court, so the judge ordered him to pay a default judgment of $11.89 million to a security guard who accused the football player of assaulting him in 2015.

Wadsworth said that Sanders violated the automatic stay in the case by taking the money after being prohibited from doing so under the stay. He made money through his business company, Big 21, LLC.

Sanders’ attorney, Keri Riley, stated in court documents that the money in question belonged to Sanders because it was “post-petition earnings.”

“Identifying the true nature of the funds will require presenting evidence and resolving numerous factual issues,” the judge said. “For example, whether the funds are Sanders’ pre- or post-petition earnings will depend on the type of services Sanders performed, when he performed them, and the terms of the contract(s) (if any) requiring those services.”

The bankruptcy trial is slated to start Aug. 31. The issue brought by Wadsworth has not yet received a trial date.