Shaquille O'Neal
Robert Snell of The Detroit News unravels a tangled story involving the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office in Detroit and a 1999 Ferrari F355 Spider owned by former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The exact chain of ownership is unclear, Snell writes, but at some point Indiana auctioneer Dean Kruse and a partner bought the Ferrari as an investment.
Around 2007, Kruse donated the flashy sports car to America’s Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio, which was founded and curated by Robert Signom.
Romel Casab, a Commerce Township businessman, who had ownership in the former Packard Car Co. plant, had some dealings with Signom and expressed interest in buying the Shaq mobile. In 2011, he gave a $15,000 deposit so he could test drive it for a month before buying it.
Within days, DEA agents launched raids and seized the Ferrari from Casab’s garages. The DEA targeted Casab, 55, during a probe into drug trafficking and money-laundering.Other luxury cars also are impounded.
Signom, a lawyer, estimates he spent $100,000 worth of his time fighting to reclaim the imported car.
In July 2012, the museum got it back from the feds after he agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty. At some point after, the museum sold it.
In December, 2015, Casab was indicted.
His attorney, Mike Rataj, has reached a plea deal. Casab admits he knew a tenant at his Romulus warehouse was illegally growing marijuana. He faces up to six months in prison when sentenced March 17.
