Posted on 06/23/2024 4:35:50 PM PDT by Libloather
It is fair to say Oklahoma pickleball referee Ron Ponder has changed his opinion of Rodney 'Rocket' Grubbs quite dramatically in recent years.
When the pair first met at a tournament in Italy in 2018, Grubbs was a 'really nice guy' and 'very outgoing'.
Now, Ponder describes his erstwhile friend as an 'a**hole' and a 'psychopath'.
He is not the only one.
Grubbs, of Brookville, Indiana, allegedly ensnared hundreds of people and many of his close friends in an $47.5million fraud in which he lured investors into pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into his pickleball business.
The man once dubbed the sport's 'ultimate ambassador' travelled to tournaments across the world touting Pickleball Rocks as 'the world's most recognized pickleball apparel brand'.
But authorities say he was issuing promissory notes to people across the country - usually for $25,000 at 12 percent interest over 18 months - that were rarely fulfilled.
The scandal has caused shockwaves across the genteel world of pickleball - a game better known for its friendly face than the big money antics of other established sports.
As Grubbs' victims demand their former friend be slung in jail, they are left wondering how a retired AT&T worker with an affable, bumbling and God-fearing demeanor could have pulled off such an extraordinary ruse.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
and the jokes make themselves!
Pickleball makes people lose their minds. Stay out of the kitchen.
If swindlers looked and acted like swindlers, they wouldn't be very successful ones. This ain't TV Land, you know.
Affinity fraud - Pickleball affinity.
It’s a new hot narrative that makes people stupid. Many of my friends are into it.
Same question I had, and I didn’t feel motivated to look it up.
The smile is their weapon that separates the people from their money. With his smile, he needs no gun and the promises made, make the take even larger than one who uses a gun in most thefts.
I think it’s tennis with a wiffle ball and ping pong paddles, but don’t quote me, cause I could be wrong.
No actual pickles are harmed or even involved in the game.
Novelty “sports” aLWays seem to attract charlatans.
Pretty soon it’ll be pickleball golf and pickled wiffleball. Hackeysack never had it so good.
jai alai. jimmy carter. generic food. maliase index. gas lines.
thankfully, Ronald Reagan was right around the corner.
Just look at Gruesome Newsom.
If swindlers looked and acted like swindlers, they wouldn’t be very successful ones. This ain’t TV Land, you know.
I tend to get a “funny feeling” about people who aren’t right, even if they’re good at acting right. I’ve offended bystanders by trusting my “funny feeling” but I don’t care about that.
I worked at a chemical manufacturing plant in the ‘80s. Half the people in our division were invested in a fund run by a guy in Florida. Buy-in was $20,000. He guaranteed 5% return per month. Every investor received a statement each month showing their investments and interest and account worth, and it increased by 5% every month.
For a few years.
“ Now, Ponder describes his erstwhile friend as an ‘a**hole’ and a ‘psychopath’.
He is not the only one.
Grubbs, of Brookville, Indiana, allegedly ensnared hundreds of people and many of his close friends in an $47.5million fraud in which he lured investors into pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into his pickleball business.”
This guy could make it in Congress someday !
We are going to have to start hanging thieves.
There are just too many of them.
My long standing belief is that prison is a bad concept. I can see that for relatively minor offenses, send the perp a message — disrupt their life with maybe 3 years in prison. Perhaps they will straighten out. But a serious crime? Or a repeat offender? Skip prison, get a rope.
We have 350 million people in this country. That’s a lot. We could afford to get rid of the troublemakers. Totally serious.
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