Former Niner Great Patrick Willis Claims Being Thrown For Financial Loss
CAMPBELL (CBS SF) -- It was a story that captured headlines -- former San Francisco 49ers great Patrick Willis finding life and success after football in the Silicon Valley.
It was a chance encounter that started his business relationship between Willis and his former neighbor and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eren Niazi back in May.
"I saw someone kind of limping," said Niazi at the time of his first meeting with Willis, who has rehabilitating his chronically injured foot. "When you see someone limping, struggling, I always believe you go ask them if they need help…I offered to carry his bag that day."
Willis was talked into joining Niazi's startup -- Open Source Storage -- as a board member and executive vice president.
RELATED: Former NFL Great Patrick Willis Tackles Startup World
But the relationship has come crashing down with Willis filing a lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Oct. 26th claiming Niazi has cost the former All-Pro "substantial sums through unsuitable and imprudent investments" including several pieces of real estate in Morgan Hill.
The suit alleged Niazi used Willis' money to purchase properties for a jointly-owned company that included a 4-bedroom home on Caraway Place and a 3-bedroom on Annatto Lane that was purchased for $856,000 and a 5-bedroom home on Tilton that was purchased for $761,000 both on Dec. 31, 2015.
READ THE LAWSUIT: Patrick Willis Lawsuit
Willis claims in his suit that Niazi had caused him to think "of him (Niazi) as a friend and advisor whom he could trust" and misrepresented his financial resources.
"Niazi actively concealed his fraud and breaches of confidence toward the Plaintiff (Willis) by keeping up false pretenses of his and OSS' (Open Source Storage) success, by misrepresenting the house as his own and by purposefully keeping (Willis) in the dark about the use of his money," the suit alleges.
The suit claims Willis became alarmed about his dealings with Niazi when he "became increasingly erratic and paranoid and talking about government agents 'coming to get him.'"
In his suit, Willis is seeking complete ownership of the properties and other monetary damages.
Meanwhile, according to Inc. Magazine, Niazi was cuurently being held without bail in the San Benito County Jail on use of a firearm, discharging a firearm, and endangering a child charges.
He could not be reached for comment on the suit.
