The Bad Boy of Pickleball: FBI Raids The Home Of A Man Who Allegedly Owes More Than $50 Million To His Pickleball Company Investors
The Kitchen -- One of the most bizarre stories in pickleball took another turn Wednesday when the FBI raided the Indiana home of a man who is accused of defrauding investors in his pickleball company of more than $50 million.
Rodney “Rocket” Grubbs, the former owner of apparel and equipment brand Pickleball Rocks, was forced into bankruptcy earlier this year by a federal court after hundreds of investors said he had defrauded them of millions of dollars.
…Many of the investors, including an 87-year-old woman who says Grubbs pressured her into using some of her retirement money, have said they couldn’t get Grubbs to return their money and think he should be held criminally liable for the alleged fraud. It’s unclear what federal agents were searching for at Grubbs’ home in Brookville, Indiana, on Wednesday, but the agency issued a statement urging potential victims in the scandal to come forward.
Okay so before we even get going here, can we please just take a minute to appreciate what a rockstar name Rodney "Rocket" Grubbs is? Like, sure, he's probably a dickhead for defrauding investors out of $57 million including an 87-year-old woman who put her retirement money into the company. But also…come on. Dude's name is Rodney Rocket. If you get swindled by a man named Rodney Rocket, that's on you. Because you know that despite how innocent and cheerful he may appear to be, nobody goes by the nickname of "Rocket" who isn't a little greasy.
Now let's get into the story. Rodney Rocket started up this pickleball company and took on a bunch of investors on some short term, high interest loans. Doesn't matter if you're 87-years-old and on your death bed, Rodney Rocket was going to take your money. He racks up somewhere around $50 million in investments, declares for bankruptcy, and now can't pay any of it back.
And all I have to say is…fraud seems pretty easy. Not that I'd ever condone fraud, and this surely shouldn't be taken as a suggestion to commit some fraud. But it seems like all you have to do to get away with it is just keep saying you intended to pay everything back. It doesn't matter if you have nothing to back up those claims. Sure, you might end up looking like a giant scumbag and everybody might hate the shit out of you afterwards. But do you think Rodney Rocket gives a shit right now that everyone thinks he's a gigantic asshole? Not a chance. He's got $50 million hiding under a mattress somewhere. I just think there's an art to being a swindler, and Rodney Rocket must have painted his masterpiece with this one.
All things considered, the pickleball community is probably the easiest target for scams like this. You've got all these old retirees who have all this money just burning in their pocket. Everyone in the pickleball community always seems so nice and welcoming. You'd never expect someone to completely fuck you out of $50 million. I'm actually shocked it's taken this long for something like this to take place.
P.S. -- Hey Rodney Rocket. I know you're reading this right now. Let's play for $5 million. I know you need to get rid of some of that money while the FBI is on your ass.