David Ortiz suing jeweler for selling him fake diamonds

David Ortiz filed a lawsuit against a jeweler he alleges sold him fake or low-quality diamonds and failed to give him a refund.

The Boston Globe reports on the matter and says the jeweler — Randy Hamida (or Hamideh) of Anaheim, Calif., — met Ortiz at the Boston Red Sox’s team hotel in Seattle in 2010. Hamida pressured Ortiz to set up a meeting to buy some of the man’s custom jewelry, and the two met in Massachusetts at the end of the season.

According to the civil suit which was filed last week, Ortiz agreed to buy a “Breitling watch with diamonds and white and yellow gold, a diamond bracelet, and a set of black diamond earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet.” Ortiz paid for the $127,000 in goods with an $80,000 check and a necklace.

The problem came when Ortiz went to get the jewelry appraised and was told the metal and gems were low quality or imitations. After Ortiz presented Hamida with the information, the jeweler admitted the discrepancy and agreed to meet with the slugger in April, 2011. Hamida agreed to give Ortiz a refund, but the longtime Red Sox All-Star says the jeweler kept giving him the run-around and never paid him back.

Hamida accepted credit card or check payments to Randy’s Mens Wear, which is a company owned by his father that is listed in California as “suspended,” for “failure to meet tax requirements.”

Ortiz alleges in his lawsuit that Hamida stalks pro athletes in order to con them with his fake jewelry.