Oxford City co-owner Thomas Anthony Guerriero has resigned his position at the club after being charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with a 'classic boiler room fraud' relating to the club.
A strongly worded SEC statement (here) claims Guerriero touted his company, Oxford City Football Club Inc., as being “the largest publicly traded diversified portfolio of professional sports teams in the world.”
It made claims of profits of over $700million over the next five years including nearly $500million from an online university that simply did not exist, and $20million from a radio station they did not own. It also claimed to own $100million of land and stadia that were actually Council owned.
The company was then touted to mailing lists with pressure tactics to earn a reported $6.5million in share sales from unsuspecting buyers, who were lured in on the back of promises of 50c a share returns in the first year. The $6.5million is a similar figure to that attributable to 'consulting fees' paid to Guerriero by his company (link), with a total book debt of over $17million.
In reality, the company's only major asset was a half stake in the National South club that, like many of its rivals, was losing money and owned none of the pitches it played on. The club released a statement over the weekend confirming that Guerriero had resigned due to 'continuing concerns about his health'.
Guerriero took over the club in April 2013, promising a new stadium and expanded facilities, but they have struggled to maintain their league position ever since.
He rebranded a failed Texas based indoor league side to the Oxford City name, claiming at the time he owed three 'professional' English clubs - essentially the Oxford City first team, their co-tenants from the Step 5 Hellenic League, and a futsal side - and the stadia they play in. He also claimed a 'professional' basketball team in Oxford that currently plies its trade in the amateur fifth tier of the English League.