2 Arizona men accused of defrauding investors out of $284M to build huge pickleball and sports facility
Last Edited
Apr 07 2025
Category
News
Two Arizona men were arrested last week after investigators alleged they used one of the largest pickleball and sports facilities in the country "as a means to exploit and defraud investors," according to the FBI.
Randy Miller, 70, and Chad Miller, 41, opened what was then called Bell Bank Park in Mesa three years ago, a sprawling complex that featured more than 40 pickleball courts, 24 soccer fields, an indoor volleyball facility, several baseball/softball fields and more.
The pickleball side of the operation has hosted several PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball events over the past several years, as well as the USA Pickleball National Championships last fall.
The facility cost nearly $300 million to build, but the business defaulted within months of opening and filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The Millers eventually lost the venue -- now operating as Arizona Athletic Grounds -- and owed $366 million to bondholders, contractors and other service providers.
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The FBI this month arrested the father and son, saying they allegedly "executed the scheme using fraudulent documents to lie about the status of the proposed project in order to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, which they used to enrich themselves."
They allegedly forged documents faked interest from major sports groups in order to get investors to buy in.
According to a grand jury indictment, Randy Miller and Chad Miller then used the money to buy multiple vehicles for themselves and a family member and used more than $400,000 in July 2021 to buy a home for Randy Miller.
The Millers also each paid themselves more than $100,000 over their expected salaries that they had disclosed to investors and also withdrew "hundreds of thousands of dollars separate from, and in addition to, their salaries," according to the indictment.
Two municipal bond offerings were issued through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority in August 2020 and June 2021 for a total of $284 million, with the understanding that interest and principal would be paid back to the bondholders from the revenue generated by the facility.
But when the complex opened, there were fewer events and lower attendance than had been falsely projected in the bond offering, according to the indictment.
Less than $2.5 million was ultimately paid back to investors.
The Millers have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud; one count of securities fraud; one count of wire fraud; and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They could each face decades in prison if convicted.
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