Lakers’ Ball files suit against BBB co-founder
Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball filed suit late Tuesday night against the former co-founder and manager of Big Baller Brand, Alan Foster, for more than $2 million plus interest in damages, alleging that he “conspired to embezzle millions of dollars and then divert those funds for his personal use, including to acquire assets in Ethiopia.”
In court documents obtained by ESPN, which were filed electronically on Tuesday night in Los Angeles Superior Court and are expected to be processed Wednesday morning, Ball alleges that “shortly after his release from prison, Foster embarked on his plan to target Ball and his family” and then “fleeced them of millions of dollars” by “creating a variety of corporate entities in which he gave himself ownership interests and managerial control.”
Foster then used those entities, the suit alleges, to “directly and indirectly funnel substantial amounts of Ball family money to himself.”
The Lakers’ Lonzo Ball confirmed that he covered up the Big Baller Brand tattoo on his arm with a new tattoo of a pair of black-and-red dice.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball has severed ties with a co-founder of Big Baller Brand over concerns that the family friend has a criminal past and also has not adequately accounted for the whereabouts of roughly $1.5 million from Ball’s accounts.
After Ball declared for the NBA draft, the suit alleges that Foster “persuaded Ball that it would be in his best financial interest to form his own company and his own brand of apparel and merchandise rather than aligning himself with established brands that had expressed substantial interest in signing Ball to lucrative endorsement deals.”
ESPN reported on March 22 that Ball severed ties with Foster over concerns that the longtime family friend has a criminal past and also has not adequately accounted for the whereabouts of roughly $1.5 million from Ball’s personal and business accounts.
Ball told ESPN that he believes that Foster, a friend of Lonzo’s father, LaVar, for almost a decade who owns 16.3 percent of Big Baller Brand, had “used his access to my business and personal finances to enrich himself. As a result, I have decided to sever all ties with Alan, effective immediately.”
In 2002, Foster was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud and two counts of money laundering as part of a scheme that defrauded 70 investors of $4 million, according to federal court records obtained by ESPN. Foster was also ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution to victims.
The suit alleges that Foster never informed Ball or his family of his criminal past. And, that months before meeting the family, Foster had his parole revoked — and was sentenced to an additional five months in prison — because he could not show he was compliant with the conditions of his parole: To “not engage in any business involving investment, asset management or protection, or any other business involving the protection of funds.”
Ball also alleges that Foster arranged for at least eight loans with financing fees of nearly $950,000 to be taken out by Ball or another entity owned by Ball, Family Always Matters, LLC, from “non-traditional lenders” that “included exorbitant financing charges that were paid in whole or in part to Foster without Ball’s knowledge.”
When Ball confronted Foster about these concerns about his conduct, the suit alleges that Foster responded by “threatening to publicly disseminate false and misleading information concerning Ball and his family.”
Before the March 22 article, Foster initially offered to arrange an in-person meeting with ESPN alongside Ball’s father at the Ball estate in Chino Hills, California. But repeated subsequent attempts via email, phone calls and text messages to reach Foster for his perspective were met with no response. On March 21, he suggested meeting in person at the Ball estate the following day, but then later that day, he suggested the middle of the following week because he was “super busy”; he otherwise offered no comment.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews and Paula Lavigne contributed to this report.