A FORMER security officer for the Miami Heat, has been accused of stealing millions of dollars in valuable memorabilia.
Marcos Perez is accused of stealing primarily game-worn jerseys stored at the team’s arena.
A former Miami Heat staffer allegedly stole millions of dollars worth of memorabilia[/caption]
The former staffer is being investigated by the FBI[/caption]
Perez previously worked as a Miami police officer before retiring and becoming a security officer.
From 2016 to 2021, he worked for the Heat.
He later got a job with the NBA, which continued his access to team facilities.
His job gave him access to an equipment room at the Kaseya Center.
This room contained hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other pieces of Heat memorabilia.
The stolen items were intended to be displayed in a future team museum.
Authorities say Perez stole over 400 items during his long-term heist.
Among the stolen goods were jerseys worn by NBA stars like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Perez allegedly sold these items over a three-year period to various buyers.
This reportedly generated around $2 million in illegal revenue.
Investigators said that Perez frequently sold the items for far less than their true market value.
One of his biggest sales was a James NBA Finals jersey that sold for about $100,000.
That same jersey later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million.
The heist began to unravel when members of the sports memorabilia community grew suspicious.
New rights deal
The NBA signed an 11-year deal with three networks for the league’s rights from the 2025-26 season.
And there will be no games on TNT for the first time since the network launched in 1988.
The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC.
They will also show around 18 playoff games from the first and second round, a Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years, and remain the home of the NBA Finals.
NBC will return as an NBA broadcaster for the first time since 2002.
The network will show up to 100 games per season across it’s channels and Peacock streaming service.
It will also be the home of NBA All-Star and show approximately 28 playoff games from the first and second round.
NBC will show one Conference Finals Series for six of the 11 years, rotating with new broadcaster Amazon Prime.
Amazon will show 66 NBA regular-season games including one on Black Friday.
The streaming service is also the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the entire Play-In Tournament.
Prime will also broadcast around one third of the playoff games in the first and second round.
The unusually high number of rare items entering the market was flagged by collectors.
A search warrant executed at Perez’s home uncovered nearly 300 additional stolen items.
These included more jerseys and other valuable pieces of memorabilia.
Perez has been formally charged with transporting and transferring stolen goods across state lines.
He is currently under investigation by the FBI.
