Former Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim has been tied to a business venture run by Mohamed Coulibaly, the man recently accused of scamming professional athletes through a company called Motion Ventures.
The connection came to light after a Barron’s investigation reported that Coulibaly’s company persuaded athletes to put money into Shopify stores that wound up failing. According to the outlet, multiple former NFL players said they lost more than $1 million combined in the arrangement.
That story took an even stranger turn this month when authorities found Coulibaly dead in the swimming pool at his New Jersey home. ABC7 reported that investigators are still working to determine how he died. Police have not made any arrests or filed any official charges tied to either the alleged scam or Coulibaly’s death.
Documents obtained by Pro Football Talk show that Motion Ventures identified Keim as its “chief operation/growth officer” in a November 2025 pitch deck. The presentation listed only two people in major leadership roles: Coulibaly and Keim. It said Keim was involved in guiding expansion plans, weighing new opportunities, and backing leadership decisions as the company looked to grow in the United States and overseas.
Barron’s also reported that Motion Ventures allegedly used fake sales data in business dashboards to make online stores look more successful than they really were. One example cited in the report involved a supposed $5,000 order from Luxembourg for 100 desktop humidifiers and 120 USB-powered cup warmers. The person tied to the shipping address told Barron’s he never placed the order and asked, “Who needs 100 humidifiers and 120 cup warmers?”
After the reporting surfaced, Coulibaly pushed back on parts of it in comments to the New York Post, saying, “I strongly dispute a number of the factual assertions and characterizations contained in the Barron’s article and any follow-up reporting that relies upon them.”
The pitch deck also named several NFL figures as notable clients and partners, including Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, other current and former Eagles players, Keim, and Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider.
Keim departed the Cardinals in January 2023. In 2024, he joined Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group as general manager of its football division.
Authorities are still investigating the case.
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