Carlos Boozer has had a rough first year with the Bulls. First, it was a hand accident at the beginning of training camp that caused him to miss the first 15 games of the season. He recently missed a couple more with an ankle sprain.
↵↵Now, we learn that Boozer is suing InnoVida Holdings, an investment company hired by Carlos and his ex-wife Cindy to manage some of their investments. According to this blog post, the suit alleges:
↵↵... that businessman Claudio Osorio “fraudulently†and “maliciously†wasted a $1 million investment made by Boozer and his ex-wife Cindy Boozer in Osorio’s company, which manufactures components for affordable housing. The Bulls forward is not just suing InnoVida, but also its President Claudio Osorio along with his wife, Amarilis, who is the vice-president of the company and chief financial officer Craig Toll.↵↵↵
↵Boozer refused to comment about the case but his attorney David Nunez said that Boozer and his ex-wife invested the money in InnoVida Holdings, which builds low cost houses for disaster victims and needy people all over the world. He also told that, “This guy [Osorio] had an air of credibility. That’s how he was able to gain access to all these deep-pocket investors.â€
This isn't the first time Boozer has gone to the courts over money troubles. The Sun-Times reported yesterday that Boozer sued rock star Prince after renting his Los Angeles house to him:
↵↵In the lawsuit, Boozer claimed that Prince added purple stripes and the Prince symbol to the exterior of the house, installed black carpet in the downstairs guest room, put in plumbing and piping in the downstairs bedroom to feed water to beauty salon chairs and installed purple monogrammed carpet in the master bedroom. Prince paid $70,000 a month in rent, according to the lawsuit.↵↵↵
↵"Booz was livid," [former Bull Jay] Williams said. "He was so [ticked] off, so angry. Booz was like, ‘I was getting ready to go over and beat this little man down.’"↵
↵The story had a happy ending, Williams said, when Prince came to Boozer with an offer.↵
↵"‘Here’s a check for a million dollars that will take care of everything to get it back the way you like it,’ †Williams said Prince offered. “Booz was like, ‘Man, this little dude is cool.’"
I don't think I'd have been happy with purple stripes on my house either, but at least Prince made it right. No wonder Boozer is such a rebounding maniac on the basketball court. He's got to get those frustrations out somewhere. I'll bet he is really looking forward to the playoffs.