They Had No Clue He Was the Bernie Madoff of the Rare Sneaker Market!

How did Zadeh Kicks manage to run such a massive scam involving thousands of people? Find out in this video!

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Michael Malekzadeh
Michael Malekzadeh was in trouble. He owed a lot of money to a lot of people, and needed money. To get some quick cash, Malekzadeh sold some of his most valuable possessions. Reportedly, he sold 80 luxury watches and 100 handbags. Along with other fund’s liquidated through cashiers checks, the grand total came out to just $6 million.

Zadeh Kicks
Malekzadeh’s business actually began years before he got in trouble, in 2013. The business was legit too. According to the Justice Department, his company was called Zadeh Kicks LLC, and based in Eugene, Oregon, Malekzadeh’s hometown. Malekzadeh had just been fired from a Nike store in Portland after starting there in 2012. What was he fired for? Buying shoes with his employee discount then selling them at retail price for a sizable profit.

Air Jordan
Ever since the creation of online retailers such as eBay, the internet has become a massive hotbed for collectibles. And Air Jordans are one of the most sought after items out there. If you put “air Jordan’s for sale” into Google you’ll get roughly 25 million results. If you put “air Jordan’s” into EBay, you get over 500,000 results.

Pre-Orders
Just like any other collectible industry, sneaker collectors like to get their hands (or feet) on the product as soon as possible. It’s the same desire that created the Black Friday stampedes, and the Harry Potter bookstore rushes. It’s a strong desire. Malekzadeh knew this fact about his customers and decided to offer soon to be released Air Jordan 11 Cool Greys sneakers for preorder on the Zadeh Kicks website in 2020, his 7th year in business.

Retail Price
Malekzadeh, being a longtime seller, knew the Air Jordan 11s had a retail price of $225 per pair. Collectors would be willing to pay that price, of course. But other sellers would not, seeing as they’d lose money paying retail price for the shoes then trying to sell them at used prices. These sellers, along with several collectors, bought Malekzadeh’s nonexistent Air Jordan 11s.

Decadent Lifestyle
Malekzadeh didn’t waste much time spending his newfound wealth. The shoe seller bought millions of dollars worth of fancy things: a fleet of luxury sports cars, dozens of watches, purses, and even a Louis Vouitton bicycle. His vehicle collection included multiple Ferraris, Bentleys, Porches, Lambos, Mercedes Benz, and of course, the bike.

Covering Up
Even the beginning of Zadeh Kicks was shady. To help the young shoe crazy Malekzadeh get his reselling business started, his father loaned him $20,000. But $20,000 wasn’t enough capital for Malekzadeh.

Arnav Kamra
One such member of the community was the young Arnav Kamra, who started selling sneakers in 2020, when he was just 15.Today, Kamra is a finance major at Indiana University, so it’s no wonder he was fascinated with the numbers driven aspect of the sneaker resale market.

Testimonial
At one point, a customer named Damian Ortiz shared his complaint on Zadeh Kick’s Instagram comment section. Malekzadeh didn’t immediately respond to the comment. Instead, he sent Ortiz an email that had an almost Godfather-esque tone.

Realization
The unlucky customers eventually realized they wouldn’t be getting their money back. According to the affidavit filed against Malekzadeh, Zadeh Kicks had roughly 23,000 customers. For several thousand of those customers, it wasn’t worth suing Malekzadeh. But for a select few thousand found themselves in a very big hole—one customer was owed $15 million, for example.

American Express
American Express is currently suing Malekzadeh and Mockerman for unpaid credit card debt. The debt is around $2 million. They’re also seeking $3,000 in damages. With all the money Malekzadeh made it seems bizarre that he failed to pay a $2 million dollar debt. But since Malekzadeh spent a good chunk of it on expensive things he didn’t need, as well as more shoes, he was quite cash poor.

Today
If Malekzadeh is found guilty of all the charges against him, he could face 30 years in prison. Prosecutors are charging him for multiple counts of fraud from the pre-order scam, and bank fraud for the loans they obtained with falsified documents.

Видео They Had No Clue He Was the Bernie Madoff of the Rare Sneaker Market! канала Enterprises Explained