From IE staff
First Published: February 15, 2024 10:28 AM PST
of sports The pickleball craze is the new fad among retirees. However, some retirees have quite a bit of money, so pickleball has also become the preferred tool for some people. scam artists.
Rodney Grubbs, a bit of a celebrity in the pickleball world, has held clinics across the United States. He has been named the sport's “Ultimate Ambassador” by USA Pickleball.
But some call Grubbs the ultimate con artist.
Four women playing pickleball at The Villages floridathe nation's largest retirement community, all claim to have been deceived by Grubbs.
Three of them told Inside Edition they invested $25,000 in Grubbs' pickleball company.
Jennifer Balter said she invested $100,000. “I lent him money four times,” she says.
Mr. Grubbs' pickleball company was called Pickleball Rocks and sold equipment such as nets and paddles. He reportedly had 136 people invest their savings into his company and raised millions of dollars from people, many of them elderly, who wanted to get in on the pickleball bandwagon.
“That approach was really helpful to me because I want to spread the love for pickleball as much as we all do,” says one of the four women.
The women claim they were promised an 18% refund.
“Some people have actually invested their entire life savings with him,” Butler said.
Jackie Vose said the only investment she received was a T-shirt that Grubbs gave her husband.
“I said to my husband, 'Enjoy your $25,000 T-shirt, because that's exactly what we paid for it,'” Vose says.
Mr. Grubbs has not been charged with any crime or securities violations. He recently received a cease and desist order from the Indiana Secretary of State for committing securities fraud by selling unregistered investment opportunities.
Grubbs did not respond to Inside Edition's request for comment.
