FBI agents searching home of former Pickleball Rocks owner in Brookville, Indiana

BROOKVILLE, Ind. — FBI agents are searching a home in Brookville, Indiana belonging to a man who once owned the apparel company Pickleball Rocks.

According to the FBI, agents are seeking to identify potential victims who may have invested with the owner of the home, Rodney Grubbs.

The FBI is asking anyone who may have been victimized by Grubbs to fill out a form on their website. The agency says all victim identities will be kept confidential.

Agents at Grubbs’ home were seen carrying boxes out of the home and putting them into an unmarked vehicle parked outside. An FBI spokesperson said agents were executing a search warrant at the home, but did not say what prompted the search.

The FBI did not say whether Grubbs has been charged with any crimes at this time.

In January, Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales issued a cease and desist order to Grubbs “to stop an alleged fraudulent investment scheme concerning a Pickleball apparel and equipment company All About Pickleball LLC., also known as ‘Pickleball Rocks.’”

The petition alleges Grubbs solicited investments in the form of promissory notes from investors that “contained a high interest rate of 12% compounded monthly and contained an 18% penalty provision in the case of default.”

Grubbs allegedly met and solicited investors at pickleball tournaments; many of those investors have not been repaid, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

In 2023, multiple people filed civil cases against Grubbs, claiming they’d made investments to him and were not paid back. The suits claim Grubbs promised the plaintiffs returns, with interest ranging from 14% to 21%, and amounts owed by Grubbs totaling in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

In three civil cases filed by different investors between July 2023 and November 2023, plaintiffs claim Grubbs issued them promissory notes, then refused to pay the resulting principal and interest.

All three plaintiffs won their cases. Grubbs was ordered to pay over $4 million plus attorney fees in one case, over $3 million plus attorney fees in another and over $1 million plus attorney fees for a third.