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A record multi-million dollar gift<\/a> to Florida\u2019s only public historically Black university has been void for months, an independent investigator said Thursday, as a third-party report determined school officials failed to vet a \u201cfraudulent\u201d contribution and that the donor\u2019s self-valuation of his fledgling hemp company was \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n Little-known entrepreneur Gregory Gerami\u2019s\u00a0donation of more than $237 million<\/a>\u00a0was \u201cinvalidated\u201d ten days after its big reveal at Florida A&M University\u2019s graduation ceremony because of procedural missteps, investigator Michael McLaughlin told trustees.<\/p>\n Gerami violated his equity management<\/a> account\u2019s terms by improperly transferring 15 million stock shares in the first place, according to an Aug. 5 report by the law office of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC. When the company terminated Gerami\u2019s contract on May 14, McLaughlin said, any stock certificates in FAMU Foundation\u2019s possession were cancelled.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the foundation never countersigned the gift agreement after both parties signed an incorrect version on the day of commencement.<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s meeting came three months after that celebratory affair. The university president posed onstage with a jumbo check alongside Gerami, who was invited to speak despite a documented history of dubious business ventures and failed higher education giving.<\/p>\n Things soon fell apart. After almost immediate public outcry, the school paused the gift and a vice president left her position. President Larry Robinson\u00a0submitted his resignation last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gerami, who founded Batterson Farms Corp in 2021, told The Associated Press that he had not read the full report. He agreed that his internal valuation \u201cdoesn\u2019t carry any weight,\u201d but said he obtained a third-party valuation after the debacle.<\/p>\n According to investigators, Gerami provided a FAMU Foundation official on June 28 with the first two pages of a valuation by Stonebridge Advisors Inc. The appraisal suggests Batterson Farms Corp is worth $9.93 per share \u2014 well below the $15.85 figure from the initial gift agreement.<\/p>\n Gerami declined to provide AP with any documents supporting this conclusion, saying, \u201cYou don\u2019t need the full report.\u201d He also denied that he improperly transferred company shares to the FAMU Foundation. He said he used \u201cthe process I have always followed.\u201d<\/p>\n Millions intended for scholarships, athletics facilities, the nursing school and a student business incubator will not be realized. In their place are reputational damage and halted contributions from previous donors who assumed the university\u2019s financial windfall made additional gifts unnecessary, according to the report.<\/p>\n The investigation blames administrators\u2019 lack of due diligence on their overzealous pursuit of such a transformative gift and flawed understanding of private stock donations. Robinson repeatedly told staffers \u201cnot to mess this up,\u201d according to investigators. Ignored warning signs alleged by the report include:<\/p>\n \u2014 An April 12 message from financial services company Raymond James revoking its previous verification of Gerami\u2019s assets. In an email to two administrators, the firm\u2019s vice president said that \u201cwe do not believe the pricing of certain securities was accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cDerogatory\u201d information discovered by the communications director as he drafted Gerami\u2019s commencement speech. That included a failed $95 million donation to Coastal Carolina University in 2020. The report said the official \u201cchose to ignore these concerns and did not report them to anyone else, assuming that others were responsible for due diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 An anonymous April 29 ethics hotline tip that the Texas Department of Agriculture could back up claims that Gerami is a fraud. The Office of Compliance and Ethics reviewed the tip but did not take action because the gift\u2019s secrecy meant that the office was unaware of Gerami.<\/p>\n Senior leadership \u201cwere deceived by, and allowed themselves to be deceived by, the Donor \u2014 Mr. Gregory Gerami,\u201d the report concluded.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither Batterson Farms Corporation nor any of its affiliated companies had the resources available to meet the promises made in the Gift Agreement,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong> CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n