Drew Brees claims jeweler scammed him out of $9M.

[denverappraiser]

"Attorney Eric George told The New Orleans Advocate that Drew Brees “aggressively purchased” the diamonds, including an $8 million ring, and became disappointed when they did not increase in value as quickly as the star quarterback hoped."

http://www.wwltv.com/article/news/l...er-scammed-him-out-of-9-million/289-534680557

 

[scarsmum]

5 minutes of googling would have been excellent due diligence here.

 

[MissGotRocks]

No one made him buy anything. He saw, he liked, he bought - clearly with no research or advice. Happens every day - not on that scale but it does happen every day.

 

[doberman]

The jeweler is shady af. And Mr Brees may be a fine football player but he's a terrible investor.

 

[Johnbt]

Dang, I was in the wrong business for 38 years. Of course, maybe they should have had the appraisals done years ago, before they handed over the money.

www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2018/04/drew_brees_jewelry_lawsuit_ite.html

8 items listed in Drew Brees jeweler lawsuit

Investment piece Date Cost Appraisal - Difference

Pink Diamond Ring Dec. 2012 $1.75M $1.28M - $470K
Pear-shaped diamond ring Feb. 2014 $285K $85K - $200K
Pink diamond pear-shaped earrings March 2015 $975K $176,398 - $798,602
Blue diamond ring March 2015 $8.18M $3.75M - $4.43M
Harry Winston ring June 2015 $1.575M $600K - $975K
Multi-stone ring Oct. 2016 $650K $100K - $550K
Multi-stone bracelet Oct. 2016 $850K $352K - $498K
Bullet-shaped diamond necklace Dec. 2016 $270K $140K - $130K

 

[tyty333]

Should have come to Pricescope first...we could have clued him in.

 

[TreeScientist]

No one made him buy anything. He saw, he liked, he bought - clearly with no research or advice. Happens every day - not on that scale but it does happen every day.

Exactly. How is this even a lawsuit? There are thousands of shady jewelers who do this every day: Over-appraise their own pieces, sell to uninformed shoppers, profit. Granted, it's usually not on this large of a scale, but the principles are the same. It's not "a scam" any more than any other jewelry business is a scam.

No-one made him purchase anything. It's his own fault for purchasing from this jeweler without doing any background research. Seriously, who would spend that kind of money without getting a second, independent appraisal done prior to purchase or within the return window? I wouldn't even buy a $5k ring without going through this process, let alone an $8 million ring!

Honestly, I would be embarrassed to bring this case to court, as it is basically just a highly public admittance of stupidity and mismanagement of money.

 

[Maja]

As usual, I'm easily distracted. Now that I've seen the list of jewelry pieces, I'm imagining the settings and dimensions. Think how much fun PSers would have with that budget!!

 

[partgypsy]

Did he talk to ANYONE, other than the jeweler, what he was doing? Anyone could have told him that jewelry is not an investment. buy it for love, that you want to wear it, etc. Jewelers sell at retail prices. They are not going to give you some top secret deal, that they are not giving to other customers or to themselves. The appraisals that they give with their pieces are inflated. I can understand him doing it once, getting an independent appraiser and realizing heck I don't know what I'm doing. But he spent 15 million dollars over multiple years, before he decided to look into any of his assumptions. That is dumb. If however the jeweler misrepresented any of the pieces (they are different specs, treated when said untreated) he would have a case.

 

[ChristineRose]

Exactly. How is this even a lawsuit? There are thousands of shady jewelers who do this every day: Over-appraise their own pieces, sell to uninformed shoppers, profit. Granted, it's usually not on this large of a scale, but the principles are the same. It's not "a scam" any more than any other jewelry business is a scam.

No-one made him purchase anything. It's his own fault for purchasing from this jeweler without doing any background research. Seriously, who would spend that kind of money without getting a second, independent appraisal done prior to purchase or within the return window? I wouldn't even buy a $5k ring without going through this process, let alone an $8 million ring!

Honestly, I would be embarrassed to bring this case to court, as it is basically just a highly public admittance of stupidity and mismanagement of money.

Actually I kind of suspect that he didn't overpay. He pieces are all unique. If he wasn't willing to pay the jeweler's cost, he couldn't have them.

The flip side is that only a expert could resell pieces like that, which is probably why the appraisals were so low.

 

[WinkHPD]

No-one made him purchase anything. It's his own fault for purchasing from this jeweler without doing any background research. Seriously, who would spend that kind of money without getting a second, independent appraisal done prior to purchase or within the return window? I wouldn't even buy a $5k ring without going through this process, let alone an $8 million ring!

I think the hard part about doing what you suggest, is finding an appraiser qualified to do an appraisal on these items. There is not enough information in this article to let us know who appraised the jewelry and how were these prices determined? If you brought me these pieces for appraisal, even when I was dealing with some colored diamonds, I would never have taken the assignment as I did not have occasion to deal in the more expensive colored diamonds very often. The important pieces are normally sold at auction for a great deal more than a jeweler in Idaho would be able to sell them for locally.

So to have any basis for us to judge the value of the appraisals, we would have to know the qualifications of the appraiser and what made him/her the right appraiser for such unusual pieces.

@denverappraiser, what are your thoughts on this?

Wink

 

[denverappraiser]

I’ve never seen either the items or the appraisal(s) so it’s a bit hard to second guess anyone here although I have seen the complaint. There are lots of red flags in the various articles about this:

GIA certified appraisals
GIA certified appraiser
Expert
Independent
Investment diamonds
Market
Quite a few more.

In one sense I’m glad I wasn’t the appraiser on this deal but, on the other hand, something tells me someone is about to get a bunch of expert witness fees. The heart of the case is that they weren’t “worth” what was claimed, and the whole basis for that is the appraisal(s).

 

[Gussie]

Why would Brees wait two or more years after purchase to get an appraisal? Wow, if I were buying an $8 million ring from my own mother, I would get an independent appraisal (probably more than one) the day of purchase and have a return policy in writing.

This guy needs to stick to football. Maybe his wife talked him into it.

 

[stonewell]

Interesting article... the Brees definitely should have observed caveat emptor, but did anyone notice this excerpt:

“Moradi confessed he charged plaintiffs a substantial markup. Moradi insisted unabashedly that he had done nothing wrong because he charged the plaintiffs the price at which Moradi expected the jewelry could be resold in ten to fifteen years because Moradi knew plaintiffs wanted a ‘long-term investment,’” the lawsuit reads.

Who buys an investment at a current price that is 10-15 years in future value??

 

[ChristineRose]

Found this elsewhere:

"Now, Brees has issued a statement through his attorney Andrew Kim saying, "From 2010 to 2016, Moradi advised [my wife and I] to allocate funds into an alternative asset class of investment grade diamonds and told us that he would use his connections and expertise to acquire them on our behalf at or below market value.""

And this:

"The lawsuit claims the 11-time Pro Bowler confronted Moradi about the discrepancy, and the jeweler admitted to charging "a substantial markup" but also argued that the market at the moment was as "weak as it has ever been."

"Moradi insisted unabashedly that he had done nothing wrong because he charged plaintiffs the price at which Moradi expected the jewelry could be resold in 10 to 15 years because Moradi knew (the Breeses) wanted a 'long-term investment,' " the lawsuit asserts."

The two statements are kind of contradictory, but I think he's trying to say he charged them a fair price for a 15 year investment, but didn't promise them a good return after a couple of years.

Also, the colored diamonds were foiled. The Breeses obviously had no idea what they were doing.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

Should have come to Pricescope first...we could have clued him in.

Ha - I love this! SuperBowl? 5,000 yard seasons? Those are pretty impressive - but if you'd just come to PriceScope you could have found something you obviously don't have - good advice.

#WhoDat

 

[the_mother_thing]

My money is on them banking on the diamonds eventually selling for more because HE owned them.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Stick to mutual funds and real estate for long term buddy. So easy. We'd help you buy a nice ring for your wife for an anniversary, though.

 

[oldminer]

I'd sure like to know who the appraiser was that Brees found and relied upon in his lawsuit. That appraiser, hopefully, is totally unbiased, highly experienced in esoteric items and not a potential competitor to Moradi. Learning first, before purchasing, may be more time consuming up front, but is very important if you understand the value in buying with some degree of safety and long term satisfaction.

 

[m51galaxy]

The trial has started here in San Diego. It will be very interesting to hear what comes out of it. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2...la-suit-says-jeweler-inflated-diamonds-value/

 

[lovedogs]

I've been to that jeweler! So weird that they are part of a "scandal".

 

[partgypsy]

"Moradi confessed he charged plaintiffs a substantial markup. Moradi insisted unabashedly that he had done nothing wrong because he charged the plaintiffs the price at which Moradi expected the jewelry could be resold in ten to fifteen years because Moradi knew plaintiffs wanted a ‘long-term investment,’” the lawsuit reads."

What, that doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[marymm]

This is a complicated lawsuit that also apparently involves Brees' former financial advisor (Festes) was indefinitely suspended from a program the NFL Players Association controls to protect athletes from bad financial advisers https://www.statesman.com/news/2019...financial-adviser-in-drew-brees-diamonds-case. It seems in 2017 Festes recommended to Brees that he have his Moradi jewelry appraised and pointed Brees to Aldo Dinelli, who owns a jewelry store, Icon Jewels, in Austin (so in my view Dinelli could not be considered an independent professional appraiser) https://www.statesman.com/news/2019...ees-rift-with-jeweler-led-to-suit-lawyers-say

Interestingly, Drew Brees has a college degree from Purdue in Industrial Management. Per Wikipedia, Industrial management, as a field of business administration, studies the structure and organization of industrial companies. It comprises those fields of business administration that are necessary for the success of companies within the manufacturing sector and the encompassing services (primarily operations management, marketing, and financial management).

Of course a college degree, even for a major which may have included some business financial management courses, does not make a person savvy about investments or jewelry or reliable financial advisors.

It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

I've been to that jeweler! So weird that they are part of a "scandal".

Wow, Really? How was your experience?
Was he kind? You know the types some Jewelers are salt of the earth others slick with grease.

 

[marymm]

Just to clarify, there is a jewelry store in La Jolla by the name of H. Moradi Fine Jewelers (Hossein Moradi).

The Brees lawsuit involves a jewelry store named CJ Charles Jewelers (Vahid Moradi), also located in La Jolla.

Based on a quick research, I would guess is that Hossein Moradi and Vahid Moradi are related to each other, but the jewelry stores are separate and distinct, and the Brees lawsuit names CJ Charles store and Vahid Moradi.

 

[sep004]

I'm just seeing that this started when he lived in San Diego, but there is a fantastic independent appraiser near New Orleans that could have helped prevent some of the later purchase issues. We send items to him even though we live several states away. It just baffles me that someone like Drew Brees would spend so much money with one particular jeweler and trust an appraiser recommended by an apparently inept financial advisor. I also don't understand why he would purchase a resale HW ring through this jeweler instead of just going to Harry Winston for something similar.

 

[missy]

Exactly. How is this even a lawsuit?

Anyone can sue anyone. Doesn't mean he will win.

Definitely should have come to PS first.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

"Attorney Eric George told The New Orleans Advocate that Drew Brees “aggressively purchased” the diamonds, including an $8 million ring, and became disappointed when they did not increase in value as quickly as the star quarterback hoped."

The shady nature of the people who took advantage of him notwithstanding, it's hard to be too sympathetic to Mr. Brees.

The bolded reminds me of the old joke: "If I had just had a million dollars to put into that stock, I'd be a rich man today".

 

[rockhoundofficiando]

What a disgusting person the jeweler is. Poor decision on Brees part to invest without doing his due diligence and believing the sleezeball was actually his friend.

 

[whitewave]

I'm just seeing that this started when he lived in San Diego, but there is a fantastic independent appraiser near New Orleans that could have helped prevent some of the later purchase issues. We send items to him even though we live several states away. It just baffles me that someone like Drew Brees would spend so much money with one particular jeweler and trust an appraiser recommended by an apparently inept financial advisor. I also don't understand why he would purchase a resale HW ring through this jeweler instead of just going to Harry Winston for something similar.

If you are talking about Ira Savoie, I love him! Yes, he would have set Brees straight.