Rondell White, Cliff Floyd and four other ballplayers scammed, lawsuit says

Ex-ballplayers Rondell White, Cliff Floyd, Gregg Jeffries and Todd Hundley -- and current ballplayers David Wright and Jason Marquis -- were allegedly defrauded in a real estate scam. So says the complaint White and Floyd have filed in federal court anyway:

The lawsuit claims that [Defendant Stephen] Hill, who had served as White and Floyd’s financial adviser for some 15 years, had allegedly “guaranteed that the Whites would not only get all of their money back quickly, but would make a substantial profit on their investment,” based on the notion that a buyer for the distressed property -- priced at $14.485 million, but supposedly appraised at $18 million -- had already been secured.

But when White and Floyd both began to inquire about the status of the deal at various points over the following three years, Hill, they say, would become “markedly evasive” about the details, finally prompting them to contact an attorney this spring. White and Floyd claim that the first documentation for the deal of any kind was shown to them in March 2010, over two years after their investment.

White is alleged to have been bilked out of $1 million and Floyd is down $1.25 million. The other investors -- who are not part of this lawsuit, but could presumably be later -- are in for anywhere between $250K and $500K a piece.

I’ve dealt with lawsuits like this one before. The chances that they’re going to see any of that money again are somewhere between slim and oh dear, you gotta be kidding me.

In other news: hey, a Gregg Jeffries sighting! Neat!