POMONA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A former NBA player for the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers alleges his former financial advisers mishandled millions of his funds.
Kwame Brown filed a complaint on May 23 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court Central District against Merrill Lynch; Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.; Bank of America Corp.; Michelle Marquez and Does 1-100 alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and conversion.
According to the complaint, Brown alleges that between 2004 and 2017, he hired defendants as his financial advisers to assist in managing all his financial matters. Plaintiff claims in and around 2010, defendant Marquez began overseeing his account with defendants with no change from the 2005 engagement. He alleges on several occasions, Marquez began investing his money through various projects and trading stocks without his consent and opened several unauthorized accounts with the defendants.
As a result, Brown claims that defendants mishandled or misappropriated at least $17.4 million of his money through fraudulent means and forged signatures, causing him enormous financial damage.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for general and special damages, compensatory damages, costs of suit, attorney's fees, prejudgment interest, and such other relief as the court may deem proper. He is represented by Corey D. Boddie of Boddie & Associates PC in Los Angeles, California.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Central District case number 2:18-cv-04391-GW-PJW