Bankrupt Pickleball Kingpin Bilked Investors to the Tune of $47 Million: Report

The pickleball swindler may also face criminal charges brought by the Indiana Secretary of Sate’s Securities Division, which is currently investigating his scheme.

AP/Ryan Sun
Catherine Parenteau returns the ball during a pickle ball match at the Goodyear Blimp Base Airport at Carson, California. AP/Ryan Sun

Pickleball swindler Rodney Grubbs has disclosed that he owes some $47 million to his creditors and investors after getting busted for a scheme of soliciting investments in his company, Pickleball Rocks.

An investigation by Indiannapolis’s Fox 59 found that Mr. Grubbs had been soliciting investments in his pickleball company at tournaments around the country.

Mr. Grubbs would set up a booth selling pickleball merchandise to attract investors and later pitch them on a simple investment — they buy into his company and he pays them back later with interest. He also gave investors the option to rollover their investment when it came time to repay them.

One day, two investors, Teri and Scott Siewert, blew the lid off Mr. Grubb’s scheme in a Facebook post, saying that they had found out that Mr. Grubbs had defaulted on dozens of promissory notes to investors across the country.

After the post, Mr. Grubbs dropped off the map, leaving investors high and dry, only surfacing in February to text Fox 59 that “ there is a lot of information circulating right now and I am very anxious to get my whole story out there.”

Now, Mr. Grubbs is in bankruptcy court, where he is required to account for his total debts and assets. According to filings, Mr. Grubbs owes investors in Pickleball Rocks and a handful of other ventures some $47 million and only has around $1.6 million in assets.

The lion’s share of the debt, $29 million, is held by Indiana residents. In all likelihood, Mr. Grubb’s assets will be sold and the revenue will be distributed between investors and the rest of the debt will be wiped out.

Mr. Grubbs may also face criminal charges brought by the Indiana Secretary of State’s Securities Division, which is currently investigating Mr. Grubb’s scheme.


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