New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is suing a San Diego jeweler, claiming the jewelry Brees has bought from him over the years was appraised at $9 million less than he originally paid, according to a TMZ report.
Brees said he paid $8.18 million for one blue diamond ring in 2015, which appraised for just $3.75 million recently. In all, Brees is seeking $9 million in damages, apparently to recoup the depreciated value.
The jeweler, Vahid Moradi, reportedly has had a business relationship with Brees since the Super Bowl-winning quarterback started his career with the Chargers.
Brees filed the lawsuit Monday, but Moradi’s attorney Eric M. George fired back in a statement.
“Drew Brees aggressively purchased multimillion-dollar pieces of jewelry. Years later, claiming to suffer ’cash flow problems,’ he tried to bully my client into undoing the transactions,” George said. “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.
“He should restrict his game-playing to the football field, and refrain from bullying honest, hardworking businessmen like my client,” he said.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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