F You; Pay Me

Many remember back in 2001 when Charleston, SC native and Brunswick’s Glynn Academy star, Kwame Brown was the number 1 draft pick, and chosen by the Washington Wizards to enter the NBA. Brown was picked up straight out of high school and that’s every young kids’ dream – right? Well, very often dreams can turn into nightmares when you’re facing a new world of new people, new challenges, and new money. According to court documents, Brown is now suing Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and his former financial advisor, Michelle Marquez.

The deal was that Brown hired these institutions to handle a $17 million investment. The investor, Michelle, would invest, trade and collect on behalf of Brown, from 2004 til 2017. As far as investing and trading, his financial advisor was free to trade and move money around, but only with Brown’s consent. Brown is claiming Michelle Marquez did the following:

• Opened several bank accounts in his name without his knowledge
• Deposited money into these secret bank accounts
• Invested and traded Brown’s money from these secret bank accounts
• Collected the commission from trading with these secret bank accounts

Brown is also claiming in 2006, after he borrowed $1.1 million and instructed Marquez to pay it off immediately, she did not pay off the loan. Instead, she decided to convert the unpaid portions into a line of credit. Kwame Brown didn’t find out most of the details of what was going on until 2015, and says he never approved many of these transactions. He is also claming that these unauthorized dealings have caused him to have significant financial losses.

in 2017, Brown claims he tried to get in touch with Marquez but could never get her on the phone to talk about these matters, even though he could always get her on the phone prior to finding out about the questionable transactions. Now Merrill Lynch and Bank of America is telling Brown that he currently has no money with either of these institutions. He was told that he authorized for Merrill Lynch and Bank of America to trade, invest, and control his money. And it appears that they did just that – invested $17 million and ended with $0. To make matters worse, Brown is claiming he believes documents with his signature to authorize were forged, and he’s hired forensic experts to confirm.

Brown’s lawyer is seeking the return of his $17 million dollar investment, plus damages. During his 13 year career with the NBA, he earned around $64 million; and although that’s a lot of money, Brown wants his coins. By the way, media outlets have reached out to Michelle Marquez for comments – so far she hasn’t returned any calls.