Pickleball Company Owner Waives Bankruptcy Discharge, Liable for $47 Million

Sunday, June 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM

By Travis Thayer @eagle993

The FBI raided the Brookville man's home in December 2024.

Shutterstock photo.

(Brookville, Ind.) - A pickleball entrepreneur who was forced into bankruptcy by investors he lured with promises of generous returns recently agreed to waive his bankruptcy discharge after an investigation by the Justice Department's U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), preventing the discharge of more than $47 million in unsecured debt.

On May 14, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana approved a voluntary waiver discharge by debtor Rodney Grubbs, owner of All About Pickleball LLC, an apparel and equipment company that did business as Pickleball Rocks.

As a result, Grubbs remains personally liable for his debts, and creditors are free to pursue payment from him after the case is closed.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Grubbs solicited investments from pickleball players and fans from across the U.S., usually in the form of promissory notes with purportedly guaranteed interest rates of 10 percent or higher.

In December 2023, several unpaid investors filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Grubbs under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

Grubbs opposed the petition, but after a hearing in which he testified to using new investors’ funds to pay back previous investors, the bankruptcy court granted the involuntary petition and ordered the case to proceed. Grubbs eventually disclosed nearly $1.6 million in assets and more than $47 million in liabilities, the vast majority of them unsecured debts owed to hundreds of individuals.

“The USTP is committed to addressing fraudulent and abusive conduct that threatens the integrity of the bankruptcy system,” said U.S. Trustee Nancy J. Gargula for Region 10, which includes the Southern District of Indiana. “Our commitment to protecting consumers and those who fall victim to various schemes that come to light in bankruptcy is unwavering.”