One of the greatest plaeyrs in Baltimore Orioles claims he was the victim of a fraud scheme by a family friend that cost him nearly $1 million.
On Thursday, The Athletic first reported that Hall-of-Famer pitcher Jim Palmer has filed a civil suit in Orange County, California and alleges that Warren Michael Holmes defrauded him out of $985,000. The Orioles great claims Holmes befriended his autistic stepson, Spencer, and created a bond that eventually led to him becoming his guardian and the manager of his trust.
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Via that relationship, the British hair stylist was able to attain business and personal loans from Palmer and his wife Susan totaling $985,000. The loans were meant to help in starting a line of beauty products. However, the 78-year-old claims Holmes misrepresented himself by claiming he had a background in the industry and various ideas for potential products.
The Palmers allege Holmes told them his planned products would be made near their home in California, so the Englisman stayed with them and was given an intial $750,000 loan to begin “Love Brands” back in November 2018. However, by 2022 the loan had yet to be repaid and no products had been launched under the holding company.
Baltimore Orioles great claims autistic stepson was used as a pawn in fraud scheme
The man who pitched 19-seasons for the Baltimore Orioles then loaned Holmes another $235,000 “because he was concerned that nothing had launched, and without a launch of some product, Mr. Holmes would not be able to pay Mr. Palmer back,” the suit claims.
The Palmers claimed in an interview after the filing that their 27-year-old stepson was used as a pawn by Holmes since the aging couple have concerns about Spencer’s future when they are gone.
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“Whether he hoodwinked us or not, there is no way in the world he could have without ingratiating himself into our family and giving us the feeling that if anything happened to me — because I’m 21 years older than Susan — and then Susan had some kind of memory issue or whatever, that he was going to take care of Spencer,” Palmer says.
“That’s priceless. I’m not saying [it gives you] the right to steal a million dollars. But the bottom line is, emotionally, physically, we helped him,” he added. “We funded the money to supposedly realize his dream, to allow him to be what he wanted to be. And then he just disappeared.”
Palmer pitched for the Orioles from 1965 to 1984, earning six trips to the All-Star game and helping the franchise win all three of their World Series titles in 1966, 1970, and 1983. He was inducted in the Baseball Hall-of-Fame in 1990.