After months of dodging, basketball star Shaquille O’Neal has been served in a lawsuit involving collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The legal documents, served Tuesday, were delivered to the former athlete and current “Inside the NBA” analyst during the broadcast of the Miami Heat-Boston Celtics playoff game in Miami, said plaintiffs’ attorney Adam Moskowitz.
The complaint is part of a class-action lawsuit alleging O’Neill and other celebrities defrauded FTX investors by appearing in ads for the crypto-trading platform. O’Neill “hid” from the process server for months before being tracked down to the Kaseya Center. Formerly called FTX ArenaMoskowitz told CBS MoneyWatch.
A process server filmed the incident so there would be “no problem” moving the case forward, Moskowitz said. Shaq ordered the process server out of the arena after the service, he added.
“They provided video of most (not all) of the services, so we’d be shocked if they showed any problems,” Moskowitz said. “We’ve now given a copy to his lawyer, Bobby Martinez, so there’s no doubt he’s been served!”
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Process servers thought they had Successfully served as a Hall of Famer In April. However, O’Neal filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this month, alleging that he never actually received the legal papers.
“These alleged ‘services’ are insufficient,” O’Neill’s attorneys said in a court filing. “It should be quashed, and the claims against Mr. O’Neill should be dismissed.”
Under federal law, a complaint must be served in person or by mail. If the person being served does not receive the papers, the case may be delayed or dismissed.
In March, Forbes reported that Moskowitz’s firm had enlisted four different firms to sue O’Neal after months of unsuccessful attempts to serve the former athlete.
During Tuesday night’s game, O’Neal was also served with a second complaint alleging that he and his son promoted an NFT project called ASTRALS before leaving, according to Moskowitz.
O’Neal’s lawyer, Roberto Martinez, did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment.
“The irony here is that Shaq claimed no experience in crypto but this new class case for NFT Astrals proves the opposite — he, his son and his business partner all planned to make millions of dollars based solely on his involvement. ,” Moskowitz said.