Father-son team behind troubled East Valley sports park charged with fraud

PHOENIX – The father and son who developed an ambitious but troubled East Valley sports park have been accused of defrauding investors in the project.

Randy Miller, 70, and Chad Miller, 41, were arrested last week after being named in a four-count federal indictment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The indictment, which was unsealed April 1, charges the defendants with one count each of conspiracy to commit securities/wire fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft.

The three conspiracy and fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while identity theft carries a maximum sentence of two years.

What did East Valley sports park developers allegedly do?

Randy Miller was the chairman and president and Chad Miller was the CEO of Legacy Sports, which developed the 320-acre project now known as Arizona Athletic Grounds.

According to prosecutors, the Phoenix residents scammed investors out of more than $280 million through municipal bond offerings.

“Randy and Chad Miller allegedly chose to use a planned sports complex as a means to exploit and defraud investors,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said in a press release. “The Millers allegedly executed the scheme using fraudulent documents to lie about the status of the proposed project in order to raise hundreds of millions of dollars which they used to enrich themselves.”

The complex was known as Bell Bank Park when it opened to much fanfare in January 2022 at Ellsworth and Pecos roads in southeast Mesa.

The East Valley sports park features dozens of indoor and outdoor courts for a wide range of activities as well as food and beverage options, meeting space, a gymnastics center and more.

East Valley sports park quickly experienced financial woes

While drawing millions of visitors, it didn’t generate enough income to cover monthly bond payments and was in default by October 2022, according to prosecutors.

In April 2023, Bell Bank announced it was ending its long-term naming rights partnership, citing numerous defaults under the deal. The complex continued to operate as Legacy Park, but the ownership group filed for bankruptcy weeks later.

A private equity firm eventually acquired the property for just over $25.5 million and rebranded it as Arizona Athletic Grounds.

Prosecutors say that less than $2.5 million of the proceeds went toward the approximately $284 million owed to bondholders.

“As alleged, Randy Miller and Chad Miller swindled investors out of over a quarter of a billion dollars by selling municipal bonds they knew were backed by forgeries and lies,” Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said in the release.

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