Prosecutors claim $450 million worth star Shaquille O’Neal is on the run after multiple snubs to appear in court in a $1 billion dollar FTX lawsuit
Shaquille O’Neal may regret his partnership with FTX, a now-bankrupt crypto exchange. The 4-time NBA champion teamed up with the exchange to promote it among his fans and followers. However, this collaboration has backfired.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the exchange, is currently under house arrest. He was arrested in December 2022 and charged with several criminal offenses, including wire fraud and money laundering.
O'Neal was named in a class-action lawsuit that seeks over $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit was brought against many celebrities and content creators who've promoted FTX, but the basketball legend is doing his best to avoid getting served with it.
Shaquille O’Neal is running away from the billion-dollar lawsuit
Shaquille O’Neal, whose net worth is estimated at $450 million in 2023, is not interested in dealing with the consequences of his actions. Shaq's partnership with the crypto exchange began in June 2022, but it only lasted for a couple of months.
O'Neal is not the only celebrity involved in this mess. Many other prominent figures, including Steph Curry, Tom Brady and Naomi Osaka, have also participated. However, what makes Shaquille O’Neal's case unique is his ability to avoid the lawsuit.
As a defendant in the lawsuit, the basketball legend will have to participate in the proceedings. However, he first needs to be served with a lawsuit, and that's something that he's avoided successfully over the past few months.
You may be interested in reading: "Hiding from those crypto collectors" - NBA fans come up with hilarious reactions to news of Shaquille O'Neal's hospitalization
The lawsuit was filed in November 2022, yet no one has been able to reach Shaq since then. Due to this, one of the attorneys filed a declaration in support of a motion to serve O'Neal through alternate means.
The attorney claims that he's tried to reach the former basketball star eight times. Each time, he left a business card, but no one has ever reached out to him. According to Defector, the attorney even received a message that Shaquille O’Neal moved to the Bahamas, which was false.
Considering that O’Neal, or one of his close associates, is trying to mislead the attorney, no further attempts will be made to serve the basketball legend at his residence. However, this doesn't mean that he won't face the consequences.
You may be interested in reading: Why did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ignore Shaquille O'Neal? Exploring their potential beef and its ultimate squashing on air
Sooner or later, Shaquille O’Neal will have to participate in the lawsuit. The FTX empire has collapsed and the all-time great former athlete is refusing to go down with it. Unfortunately for him, he may be making the situation worse by avoiding process servers.