Bush case figure to talk

One of the two would-be sports marketers who allegedly made improper payments to Reggie Bush while he was still at USC has agreed to meet with NCAA investigators and claims to have documentation of financial transactions between Bush and him, according to a source close to the investigation.

Lloyd Lake was also expected to file a civil lawsuit in San Diego this month. He will seek to recoup money allegedly given to Bush and his family and will ask for punitive damages, claiming the former Trojans tailback defrauded him in a deal to launch a sports marketing agency, the source said.

Bush, now in his second season with the New Orleans Saints, has repeatedly said that neither he nor his family did anything wrong.

Some people close to him have contended that the young athlete and his parents were led astray by unscrupulous agents. Others have questioned the credibility of Lake, a former documented gang member and convicted felon.

Lake’s attorney, Brian Watkins, and Bush’s attorney, David Cornwell, declined to comment.

An NCAA spokeswoman said investigators have encouraged anyone with information on the matter to step forward, but she would not discuss specifics of the case.

If investigators find that Bush received improper benefits while playing for the Trojans during the 2004 or 2005 seasons, USC could be forced to forfeit games. The program could face further sanctions if it were proved that coaches or administrators knew or should have known about the alleged benefits.

Bush’s status as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner also could be in jeopardy.

The source familiar with the situation said that USC officials declined to attend a meeting with Lake and NCAA investigators.

Todd Dickey, senior vice president and general counsel for the university, said: “It’s an ongoing investigation, so I cannot comment on any specifics. And I’m not going to confirm or deny any witnesses that are being interviewed.”

He added, “It’s our policy to participate in any witness interviews if we are invited to do so or know about them.”

This is not the first time Lake has reportedly considered talking to authorities and filing a lawsuit.

The controversy erupted in the spring of 2006 after Lake and business partner Michael Michaels alleged they had sought to create a marketing agency called New Era Sports & Entertainment with Bush and his stepfather, LaMar Griffin.

In previous interviews, Watkins and Jordan Cohen, an attorney who represented Michaels, detailed their clients’ version of New Era’s short, troubled life.

Michaels and Lake were unlikely candidates for a sports-related venture. Michaels was a real estate investor and an official for the Sycuan Indian tribe’s development corporation. Lake had been convicted of a felony drug violation and was on probation.

The attorneys said Lake knew Griffin and introduced him to Michaels at a San Diego Chargers game in 2004. They said it was Bush and Griffin who proposed forming the agency as a way for the eventual Heisman winner to avoid paying a percentage of his earnings to an established agent when he turned professional.

According to previous statements by Watkins, Griffin soon began asking for favors.

First came $28,000 to help repay family debts, Watkins said. Then, in the spring of 2005, the Griffins -- LaMar, wife Denise and teenage son Jovan -- moved into a three-bedroom house that Michaels owned east of San Diego. Watkins said the family agreed to a monthly rent of $4,500 but never paid.

A September 2006 report by Yahoo Sports detailed further allegations, saying that Michaels paid for Bush to stay in hotels in San Diego and Las Vegas and gave the player $13,000 to buy a 1996 Chevrolet Impala registered in Bush’s name.

The alleged business venture fell apart after USC lost to Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl and Bush signed with marketing agent Mike Ornstein. Soon after, the Griffins moved out of Michaels’ house.

Yahoo reported that an Ornstein employee had paid some of the costs for Bush’s family to travel to Berkeley when USC played California the previous season. Ornstein has denied the report and had no comment Tuesday. Lake and Michaels initially threatened to sue Bush for $3.2 million.

Cornwell countered by saying that New Era was trying to extort money from Bush and, at one point, the FBI opened an investigation into the agency.

Last April, Michaels reached an individual settlement with the player and his family. Yahoo reported that sources said the settlement was for $200,000 to $300,000.

At USC practice Tuesday, Coach Pete Carroll said: “I don’t know anything about it. It has not come up in months.”

While Carroll and several of his assistants met with investigators early on, the NCAA and Pacific 10 Conference have struggled to secure interviews with other key figures.

Pac-10 officials declined to comment, but after Michaels settled last spring, Ron Barker, the conference’s associate commissioner of governance and enforcement, insisted: “This has not gone away by any means.”

Times staff writer Gary Klein contributed to this report.

david.wharton@latimes.com