Bank Email Raises Red Flag On $237M FAMU Donation

*heavy HBCU sigh*

Source: Zack Wittman for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty

The saga behind the curious case of Batterson Seventh Family Trust CEO  Gregory Gerami and the $237 million donation he pledged to Florida A&M University continues as the “businessman’s” show of philanthropy is still looking more and more dubious the more we learn bout it.

According to the Miami Herald, the donation no one seems to be able to prove exists—which has already resulted in administrative resignations, infighting between members of FAMU’s board of trustees, an announcement by FAMU President Larry Robinson that the gift transaction has been “ceased,” and the revelation that a person cited on Batterson’s website as the co-CEO of the company never actually worked for the company—is under even more scrutiny now that an email from the donor’s bank has raised yet another red flag indicating that the historic donation may not be legitimate.

From the Herald:

Internal emails recently released by the university to The Sun News show that weeks before donor Gregory Gerami presented an oversized check at FAMU’s graduation ceremony, a Raymond James Financial Services executive told FAMU officials that previous assurances they provided of Gerami’s account balance were not accurate.

“On February 1 and March 1, 2024, Raymond James issued a letter to client, Gregory Gerami, reflecting the balance in his account,” Kirk Bell, a senior vice president at Raymond James, wrote on April 12. “Effective April 10th, 2024, Raymond James will no longer provide a value for the securities in Mr. Gerami’s account and no longer stand by the verification of deposit letter you may have received.

“To the extent that Mr. Gerami has or does provide you with official account statements from Raymond James, we do not believe the pricing of certain securities was accurate.”

At some point, it just becomes really difficult to look at a thing that seemed too good to be true from the start and not finally say: “Nah—this gotta be a scam.”

Of course, in the case of Gerami and his elusive “gift” to FAMU—can it even really be called a scam? Grifters typically do what they do for financial gain. If Gerami is a grifter, what’s the grift? What’s the end game in pledging nine figures he, apparently, doesn’t have to a college just to turn around and say, “Sike, made you look” after allowing administrators to make a public show of receiving the donation they never actually received? 

Last month, former Tallahassee mayor and FAMU alum Andrew Gillum called Gerami a “hoaxer,” which would certainly be more accurate, but, still, the question is—why?

Still, Gerami has been standing by his word that what appears to be a phantom donation is, in fact, real. According to the Herald, FAMU’s investigation into the donation is set to be completed by Aug. 30.

The board of trustees hired Buchanan Ingersoll, and Rooney law firm to conduct the investigation and it’s being overseen by the Florida Board of Governors.