Saints quarterback Drew Brees has made many millions on the football field. He’ll now try to make millions more in the courtroom.
Via TMZ, Brees has sued Vahid Moradi of CJ Charles Jewelry in San Diego. Brees claims that he has purchased roughly $15 million worth of jewelry, and that it was independently appraised at being worth $9 million less than the price Brees paid for the items.
One of the items — a diamond ring for which Brees paid $8.18 million — allegedly appraised for only $3.75 million.
Moradi’s lawyer contends that nothing improper occurred.
“Drew Brees aggressively purchased multi-million dollar pieces of jewelry,” Eric M. George told TMZ. “Years later, claiming to suffer ‘cash flow problems,’ he tried to bully my client into undoing the transactions. . . . Mr. Brees’s behavior and his belief that he was wronged because the jewelry did not appreciate in value as quickly as he hoped both demonstrate a lack of integrity and contradict basic principles of both economics and the law.”
Brees can spend his money however he sees fit, and if he regards jewelry as some sort of investment, that’s his prerogative. Given the manner in which jewelers routinely (and dramatically) mark up their merchandise, however, it’s probably a good idea to get the independent appraisal before buying it, not after.
That said, there’s a chance that Brees did, and there’s a chance that there’s a lot more to this story. Absent a settlement, it’s a story that we’ll know about every step of the way, since it will be playing out via public filings, hearings, and ultimately a trial.