WALTHAM, Mass. — Bentley University is facing a lawsuit from a former student-athlete who claims he was wrongfully expelled from the school weeks before graduating after being caught up in a student pyramid scheme.
The former senior from Rhode Island claimed in the lawsuit that this began in the Fall of 2024, leading to his suspension and expulsion in the Spring of 2025.
The plaintiff, referred to as John Smith, claims he was recruited over Snapchat by an individual named Eli, who claimed he and others could make money over Venmo.
John was reportedly asked by Eli to recruit other teammates and students.
Nearly a dozen students are mentioned in the lawsuit as having transferred thousands of over dollars back and forth over Venmo and CashApp. The lawsuit claims Eli would end up with most of that money after the transaction, and distribute it to those students and John working underneath him.
For example, the lawsuit reads, “Student A was directed to transfer the funds to someone else who would withdraw the funds and distribute them pursuant to Eli’s preset instructions. The final distribution had to be through an app other than Venmo.”
After a few months, students realized they were losing money from their accounts. One, named Student E, reportedly confronted John, who recruited him.
The lawsuit states the student “ominously told John that he had a bright future, and he didn’t want anything to happen to destroy it.”
That student is accused of going to the Bentley Police the next day to report John Smith after he was not paid back.
Smith was suspended amidst a university investigation, he says. Later, weeks before his graduation, he was allegedly kicked out by the school’s Student Conduct Board after a hearing.
His appeal of the decision, according to the lawsuit, was denied.
The lawsuit says that Smith was unfairly kicked out, and his written statements were not submitted by the school in time for those at the conduct hearing. He believes he was wrongfully expelled and blamed for the scheme.
Smith claims he was supposed to be a graduate student-athlete in Bryant University’s MBA program. He says his offer was revoked by Bryant.
Student-athletes at Bentley University were told about the lawsuit for the first time on Thursday.
“It’s really unfortunate,” said Dylan Cook, a sophomore on the men’s hockey team. “You got to be really careful, especially when you’re handling money.”
He continued, “Every year you get told the rules, and just as a student-athlete, you have to comply by that and obviously be careful and cautious. If you have any questions, anybody would love to answer.”
A freshman hockey player, Lukas Swedin, added, “Unfortunate for [John Smith], but like, if you scam people out of money, I think it’s probably right... I guess you just have to think twice to be a little extra careful, especially after you hear things like this.”
Boston 25 reached out to Bentley University on Thursday, who said they had no comment.
Attorneys for John Smith also said they had no comment about the case on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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