Jury deliberations begin today in Drew Brees diamond scam trial
By Kwadwo Sefah
The case of a San Diego jeweler and some overpriced diamonds has had Saints quarterback Drew Brees hung up in California once this offseason. Could it happen again? Jury deliberations begin today.
The jury trial in which Drew Brees is seeking to recover money he is accusing a jeweler of defrauding him out of over the misrepresented value of some diamonds is ready for the jury. He recently missed a day of OTAs and a day of minicamp dealing with the issue. The jury in the case is set to begin deliberations today, Thursday, Jun 20.
Since April of 2018, Drew Brees has been involved in a lawsuit in California. Brees and his wife Brittany have claimed to have been scammed by a La Jolla based CJ Charles Jewelers’ Vahid Moradi, for diamonds that were sold to them for more than their actual value. Reportedly scamming the Breeses out of about $6.8 million.
He explained to the jury in court that the diamonds looked completely different in their settings and he never had the opportunity to view the diamonds outside of their settings.
NBC 7 in San Diego provided an image of the transactions presented in court between Brees and CJ Charles Jewelers. The transactions which dated back to 2012 were a difference in price of around $6.8 million in actual value compared to the amount paid. Representatives for CJ Charles Jewelers explained the difference in pricing as a typical markup to cover costs of doing business.
In the offseason, one of the biggest issues teams face is players getting involved in off the field issues. Something for which Brees has never been known. Brees stated, per the New Orleans Advocate:
"“It’s been very tough, obviously I’m the quarterback of this football team and I want to be with this team. Unfortunately there were things a bit out of control that we had to take care of that and take life as it comes.”"
Brees was able to make it to the last two days of the most recent minicamp. However, if the case is still ongoing at the start of training camp it could lead to more missed time and possibly a slow start to the 2019 Season.
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It could be completed as early as today once the juries deliberations begin then, depending on their verdict an award could be made.