Named as defendants are Black, James A. Franklin Jr., Alfred Twitty, Lisa Adams, Professional Management Inc., Professional Managing Consulting Inc., P.E. Communications Inc., Jimmy B. Roof, Robert C. Ellenburg, Roof and Ellenburg LLC, Richard Homa, and Cash 4 Titles Inc.

Franklin is an attorney for PMI. Adams is a PMI employee and Twitty served as a runner for Black.

Calls to Black and other defendants were not immediately returned.

"They were caught in a complicated scheme," Harke said.

The suit claims Black and his associates invested millions of dollars of the players' money in phony schemes, diverted money to offshore bank accounts, and misrepresented investments.

The lawsuit claims Black gained control of the players' lucrative contracts through his Columbia, S.C.-based agency.

Harke said attorneys still have not determined how much money Taylor and Hilliard lost, "but it is in the millions."

The lawsuit claims Black and Franklin convinced Hilliard to liquidate the $1.1 million stock portfolio he purchased for his retirement and invest in Cash 4 Titles Inc., a title loan company based in Atlanta. Black's agency was retaining 40 percent of the monthly return on their clients' investments, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also said Taylor, on Black's advice, invested $3.4 million, including $2.4 million of the first payment of his Jaguars signing bonus.

Black's trial on the criminal charges is scheduled to begin June 5.

Black also faces a civil action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, charging him with defrauding his clients of at least $5 million in investment scams. Black denied the SEC's accusations.

Black, 42, has lost several of his well-known clients including Taylor and Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors.

Black became the center of an investigation by University of Florida police last spring for possible illegal inducements to former university players.

Several players testified against Black before the grand jury, including Taylor and fellow ex-Gators Hilliard, Jevon Kearse, and Reidel Anthony. Former University of Florida football player Johnny Rutledge has testified Black gave him between $10,000 and $15,000 during his college career.

Florida authorities charged him in October with unlicensed agent activity in the state. If convicted, he could face a $5,000 fine and up to 15 years in prison.