Composite story
Feds charge a Florida developer over Allen University's unbuilt stadium
Columbia, South CarolinaPublished 22 Sep 2026
Prosecutors say Lamonica “Monti” Valrie took money tied to a Columbia football stadium that was never built. He says he was a whistleblower and that the money he spent was his. Outlets do not agree on his age or on how Allen's payments were structured.
A federal indictment in South Carolina charges Lamonica “Monti” Valrie with wire fraud and money laundering over a football stadium he agreed to build for Allen University in Columbia. Prosecutors say no stadium was built and that money went to luxury spending. Valrie says he will fight the case and that he was exposing misconduct. Outlets disagree on whether he is 58 or 66 and on whether Allen's expedite payments were $500,000 plus $70,000 a month or $500,000 plus $2.5 million due later.
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Federal case says Florida man defrauded HBCU for stadium
Published 15 Sep 2026 accessed 22 Sep 2026
Facts
The new deal obligated Allen to pay Valrie up to $3 million to speed up construction.
The case centers on a proposed football stadium for Allen University, a private HBCU in Columbia.
The goal was a playable field by the start of the 2024 football season.
The AME Church is Allen University's parent organization.
Valrie was arrested in Florida and made his first appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Valrie was arrested in Florida and made his first appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Valrie is expected to make later court appearances in South Carolina.
Since 2018, the Yellow Jackets have played home games away from Allen's main campus.
The FBI Columbia Field Office investigated the case.
Valrie has not been convicted.
Opinion
No opinion marked.
"Never answered why": Former Allen University board member speaks on alleged fraud scheme
Published 17 Sep 2026 accessed 22 Sep 2026
Facts
The indictment lists Allen University as one of the biggest victims, allegedly losing about $3 million.
Karol Widemon Montgomery asked whether the contract between McNealy and Valrie set dates for the work.
Montgomery said McNealy never explained why he wanted to spend $3 million to speed a stadium that was supposed to be free the next year.
Montgomery said the board was told Allen did not have the promised $3 million, so McNealy asked for authority to take out a loan.
Montgomery says Valrie's lack of funds was never addressed with the board.
Opinion
No opinion marked.
New court documents show details of failed Allen University football stadium project
Published 21 Sep 2026 accessed 22 Sep 2026
Facts
A contract of more than 70 pages between Allen University and 50 Plus 1 Sports adds detail on the stadium deal.
The contracts show Allen was not required to pay up front and instead entered a development and revenue-sharing deal that would pay 50 Plus 1 on the back end.
The agreement made 50 Plus 1 responsible for developing, financing, and building the Allen improvements at its own expense.
The original agreement was dated Aug. 23, 2023.
The plans included a practice field, a softball field, apartments, and retail, with Allen receiving 40% of the revenue.
The contract said the stadium was part of a much larger development.
The plans included a practice field, a softball field, apartments, and other retail.
In a 2022 WIS interview, former president Ernest McNealy said an athletic center was part of Allen's long-term plan.
The plans had changed by November 2023.
Former board member Karol Widemon Montgomery said she was surprised by Valrie's federal indictment.
Montgomery said the board should have demanded to see the contracts and documents before voting.
Montgomery has a lawsuit pending against Allen University.
Opinion
Montgomery said she trusted that McNealy had Allen University's best interest in mind.
Montgomery said the plan sounded like a great opportunity for Allen to get a stadium.
Montgomery said that as she learned more, she thought the plan was a great opportunity for Allen to secure more funding.
Montgomery believes a forensic audit of Allen University's finances is warranted.
Exotic Auto Rentals and High-End Handbags: Feds Detail Alleged S.C. Stadium Scam
Published 21 Sep 2026 accessed 22 Sep 2026
Facts
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to impose pretrial bond conditions on Lamonica “Monti” Valrie over an alleged Allen University stadium fraud.
Prosecutors alleged Allen paid Valrie $70,000 a month through July 2025 even though no work was done.
Former trustee Karol Widemon Montgomery says leaders approved the project in summer 2023 without seeing a contract or running a background check on Valrie.
Valrie was released from custody in Florida last week on a $100,000 unsecured bond.
Valrie says he was exposing misconduct by school officials and the AME Church.
Prosecutors argue Valrie's history shows he will recklessly spend remaining funds and keep victims from a meaningful recovery.
Federal prosecutors describe Valrie as a fraudster who was living on pilfered funds.
Allen's football team competes in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Prosecutors want Valrie barred from purchases over $500 without prior approval.
Prosecutors say more than $550,000 went to exotic car rentals between June 2022 and October 2025.
Prosecutors alleged Valrie used victims' funds to rent a light blue Lamborghini Urus, a yellow Lamborghini Huracan, and a Rolls-Royce Cullinan from Forza Exotics in Miami.
Prosecutors want Valrie barred from new debt or credit without prior written authorization.
Prosecutors want Valrie to disclose real estate and other business deals he is involved in.
The bond motion says Valrie rented high-end properties rather than buying real estate that could later be seized.
Opinion
No opinion marked.
Tables turned: Allen University whistleblower finds himself at center of FBI stadium fraud case
Published 20 Sep 2026 accessed 22 Sep 2026
Facts
Valrie was arrested.
For Lamonica Valrie, Sept. 15 began with a rude awakening.
For the last year, Valrie had been in limited contact with the FBI about alleged misconduct by Allen University's leadership in Columbia.
The Post and Courier reported that recordings and federal filings indicated millions collected for Allen by the South Carolina AME Church were not all given to the school.
After the deal collapsed, Valrie formed a group called Citizens for Justice, built a website, and sent mass emails alleging wrongdoing at Allen.
Allen, a school of about 600 students, came under FBI scrutiny in 2025 over a failed attempt to use federal funds to renovate a historic hospital building.
Valrie and a recorded board discussion say McNealey was willing to pay $3 million to rush the stadium because otherwise the board would fire him.
Valrie called the architect's money a payment, but the federal government said it was an unpaid loan.
Armed agents raided Valrie's home and storage units.
The federal government said Valrie was the bad actor, not university or church officials.
On June 19, 2023, then-president Ernest McNealey emailed Allen's board that Valrie was interested in helping build an athletic facility at no cost to the school.
50 Plus 1 could build other buildings, and Allen would be paid 40 percent of net profits after debt for the stadium and student union was paid.
In October 2023, two months after the deal was signed, Valrie met McNealey about Allen's request to finish the stadium within 10 months.
Valrie wrote that his side had incurred $2.8 million in expenses and Allen had not provided the promised $3 million.
Valrie and one of Allen's lawyers say a verbal agreement called for Allen to pay 50 Plus 1 a fee to fast-track the stadium.
Valrie said that around the time he created 50 Plus 1, he struck a deal with a Kansas City architect for mixed-use stadium developments.
A 2024 memo by Atlanta attorney Shannon Davis said Allen entered a verbal agreement to amend the ground lease and commit upfront funds to expedite the stadium.
Around 2022, Valrie first came to South Carolina trying to join the redevelopment of Williams-Brice Stadium.
Valrie incorporated 50 Plus 1 Sports LLC in Florida in 2022.
Whether the $3 million fee was certain was up for debate.
Allen did not immediately provide any money despite the push to build quickly.
In a Dec. 29, 2023, email, McNealey promised Valrie the school would pay soon.
Allen did not pay the rest of the $3 million on Feb. 26, 2024, as agreed.
In a Jan. 2 email, Valrie complained about the delay and listed fall 2023 meetings among Allen, 50 Plus 1, and partners.
Valrie wrote that 50 Plus 1, JLL, AECOM, and other firms had been meeting to deliver Phase I of the stadium in August 2024.
50 Plus 1 bills itself as the first national sports firm to require 50 percent minority and female participation in every project it finances or partners in.
Valrie wrote that Allen was in default and that his side was $14 million in the hole.
A 2023 HBCU Advocate article said 50 Plus 1 provided 100 percent financing and “has over 7 billion dollars proposed” to NFL, MLB, and college teams.
Valrie said he previously consulted for the Los Angeles Clippers on minority-business patronage.
McNealey left Allen at the end of 2025 after the board declined to renew his contract.
In May, Valrie wrote Allen's board demanding $2.4 million or he would sue.
The deal began to founder again, apparently because Allen was struggling to get a loan to pay 50 Plus 1.
Work on the stadium project came to an end.
The March 26, 2024, email went to McNealey and to Bishop Samuel Green, chair of Allen's board and leader of AME churches in South Carolina.
Two weeks later, the sides resolved their differences.
Valrie suggested Allen use one of his bankers to try to get the money, allegedly at the school's request.
Valrie wrote that Allen had used “Unfair Deceptive Practices” against 50 Plus 1 Sports.
In an August 2024 memo, Davis wrote that McNealey believes Allen may have been fraudulently induced by verbal misrepresentations from 50 Plus.
No agreement was reached.
On March 26, 2024, Valrie wrote that he had tried several times to reach McNealey and described himself as CEO and owner of a billion-dollar company.
USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said Valrie approached the university several years ago about developing land next to Williams-Brice Stadium.
By rule, Allen is governed by the bishop of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church.
In 2024, Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh announced a “transformative partnership” with 50 Plus 1 that it said would generate at least $70 million.
After it emerged that the school would lease its land to Valrie's company, North Carolina's attorney general objected.
A month after the revised deal, Allen gave Valrie its Richard Allen Award.
Davis noted that no stadium permits had been issued to 50 Plus One or other companies by February 2024.
The indictment claims Valrie defrauded the Kansas City architect, listed as Victim 1, of $4.3 million.
In March 2026, Montgomery, an Atlanta lawyer and former prosecutor, filed a 129-page complaint alleging deceptive fundraising, financial misrepresentation, fraudulent attempts to get federal money, sexual harassment, and a lack of required trustee turnover.
A year earlier, Allen had its own early doubts about partnering with 50 Plus One.
No charges have been filed against any Allen or church leaders.
Valrie said he would help only if he was paid for prior Allen work and for recruiting Vision Center contractors.
The Vision Center had received $4 million in state money to provide jobs and serve as an emergency shelter, goals the Post and Courier says the little-used retreat has not met.
Valrie said his USC contacts were positive, including meetings with the Board of Trustees and state officials in Columbia.
Davis wrote that 50 Plus had hired multiple contractors for rezoning, which she said showed an intent to start work.
Former board member Karol Widemon Montgomery has alleged wrongdoing since she was removed from Allen's board in March 2025.
The government listed a $30,000 payment to Forza Exotics for luxury rental cars on Oct. 8, 2024.
The government listed a $20,000 payment to Classic Yacht Chartering and Catering on Jan. 6, 2025.
Valrie was not the only person making anonymous complaints about McNealey, Green, and Green's successor, Bishop James Davis.
In 2024, the Allen stadium was not the only Midlands project being rushed.
Valrie said he has long enjoyed luxury goods.
The person the Post and Courier believes is Victim 1 did not respond to a request for comment.
Opinion
Valrie thought Allen's leaders had acted in bad faith in negotiations with his company.
Then-athletic director Jasher Cox said the project would lay a foundation where athletic dreams come to fruition and the community finds a hub at Allen.
Valrie wrote that he could not understand why Allen missed its obligations, treated him as the villain, and avoided him.
Davis wrote that several factors weaken the fraudulent-inducement argument.
Valrie came to have a low opinion of Allen's leaders.
Davis warned Allen against refusing to pay 50 Plus 1 and said there could still be a way forward.
Valrie said the North Carolina attorney general's office was unfair and inconsistent in criticizing the Saint Augustine's proposal.
Davis wrote that Allen had a valuable chance to negotiate and avoid a lawsuit.