Spurs guard Tony Parker said he cooperated fully with federal agents after learning that a muscle car given to him by a friend might have some importance in a federal investigation.
A muscle car valued at $129,000 that had been given to Parker by Lubbock financier Jeffrey David Gunselman was seized by federal agents Nov. 22 in an arrangement that was set up by Parker’s business agent Bill Braden.
Parker had been given a Shelby Cobra Roller automobile by Gunselman, whose Lubbock-based biofuels company is under investigation in a joint Environmental Projection Agency-Secret Service probe.
When asked what he knew about Gunselman, Parker didn’t have much information.
“That’s a funny question,” Parker said. “That’s a guy the Spurs introduced me to. Whatever happened, I don’t know. I was in France.”
Parke, who spent most of the fall in France playing with his ASVEL Villeurbonne team, said he instructed his representatives to work with the federal agents as soon as he learned they wanted to seize the car.
“I knew about it. It was a gift, but if they want it back, I have no problem with it,” Parker said.
Court documents unsealed last week are the second batch to become public as the two agencies continue investigations of Gunselman’s Absolute Fuel.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that Absolute Fuel sold more than $40 million in renewable energy credits through an EPA clearinghouse to oil companies without making the biodiesel fuel necessary to fulfill those credits.
The Avalanche-Journal reported thatagainst Gunselman, other people connected with Absolute Fuels or Parker.
But federal agents have made two raids to seize Gunselman’s property since October. The first one netted a private jet, 10 vehicles, 20 bank accounts and several piece of heavy machinery.
Under the newest warrants, federal agents seized additional banking accounts and the automobile that had been given to Parker by Gunselman.
U.S. Magistrate Nancy M. Koenig issued the second warrant on Nov. 15, the Avalanche-Journal reported. Financial accounts were seized the next day and Parker’s car was turned over to a federal agent on Nov. 22.
Additionally, the Avalanche-Journal reported that Gunselman purchased a house in Boerne from Major League Baseball pitcher Josh Beckett.
The newspaper reports that Gunselman bought the house from Beckett in a sale that Bexar County Appraisal District records indicate was completed on Oct. 5. The house was valued at $1,917,930 for 2011.