Jim Palmer alleges hair stylist befriended family, then defrauded them of nearly $1 million
Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer has filed a civil suit against a former friend in Superior Court in Orange County, Calif., alleging that he lost nearly $1 million in a fraudulent business scheme.
Palmer said the defendant, Warren Michael Holmes, had befriended Palmer’s autistic stepson, Spencer, and built such a bond with the family that he was named as Spencer’s guardian and the manager of his trust. Palmer said that Holmes had misrepresented himself as a prominent British hair stylist and that Palmer and his wife, Susan, had made business and personal loans totaling $985,000 to help Holmes start a line of beauty products.
“We understand people are going to think we are the most gullible people on the face of the earth,” Susan Palmer said in an interview. “Well, OK. I just want to make sure he doesn’t do this again.”
The suit alleges breach of contract for business and personal loans, negligent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement and unjust enrichment. An initial court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 22. Holmes could not be reached for comment.
Jim Palmer said this case cuts deeply because his stepson, who is 27, had been used as a pawn. Although the Palmers are in good health, they have become increasingly aware of their mortality: Susan said she is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease, which afflicted her mother, and Jim turned 78 in October.
“Whether (Holmes) hoodwinked us or not, there is no way in the world he could have without ingratiating himself into our family and giving us the feeling that if anything happened to me — because I’m 21 years older than Susan — and then Susan had some kind of memory issue or whatever, that he was going to take care of Spencer,” said Palmer, who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from 1965 to 1984.
“That’s priceless. I’m not saying (it gives you) the right to steal a million dollars. But the bottom line is, emotionally, physically, we helped him. We funded the money to supposedly realize his dream, to allow him to be what he wanted to be. And then he just disappeared.”
The Athletic has been unable to locate Holmes, who did not respond to a follow request on his private Instagram account. It was not clear at the time of publication whether he had a lawyer.
Since he retired, Palmer has worked as a top color analyst for ABC Sports in the 1980s and an Orioles broadcaster for decades; he was also, famously, a model for Jockey underwear. He has homes in Corona del Mar, Calif., and in Palm Beach, Fla., where he met Holmes through mutual friends in 2015, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that Holmes, after failing to secure investors for a hair-roller product, attempted to launch a haircare brand called “Poo” and an eyeliner called “B–ch-Brow” in 2018. The Palmers — who describe Holmes as a stylish, charismatic Englishman — told them his products would be manufactured near their home in California, so he stayed with them there and secured a $750,000 loan from the Palmers in November 2018 to start “Love Brands,” a holding company for the beauty products.
Palmer would be a shareholder in the company, the suit says, but by 2022, Holmes still had not repaid the loan or launched any products. Palmer then loaned Holmes another $235,000, the suit alleges, “because he was concerned that nothing had launched, and without a launch of some product, Mr. Holmes would not be able to pay Mr. Palmer back.”
Last March, the suit says, Holmes told Palmer that he needed another $2.5 million for his products to become “a global beauty brand.” At that point, Palmer asked Holmes “to return his money and find someone else to fund his brand.” The Palmers concede now that they are unlikely to recoup the money.
“It was a short-term loan,” Palmer said. “It would have been nice to have a little bit of income coming in if his products were launched and successful — and the way he sold it, I would have bought the Brooklyn Bridge. He was a great salesman.”
The immediate issue, the Palmers say, is locating Holmes. They do not know where he is and have gotten no response to their inquiries with Holmes’ family members.
The parties are supposed to convene in court and set schedules at their initial date next month, but Holmes must first be served.