ESPN: Dave Wilder cooperating with the FBI

[Balta1701]

I think this ESPN article is important and it updates us on all those dealings we heard about back in June when personnel were moved around. It clearly indicates that Dave Wilder is under federal investigation for potential fraud, Wilder is not commenting at present, and a couple of White Sox scouts were fired because of this matter.

Major League Baseball investigators are looking into accusations that several New York Yankees prospects from the Dominican Republic were forced to kick back portions of their signing bonuses to one or more team employees, several sources told ESPN.

 

The revelation is one of several developments in an ongoing investigation of a financial scandal involving the signing of players from the Dominican Republic. Last week, the Red Sox's Dominican scouting supervisor, Pablo Lantigua, was fired after MLB investigators confronted him about allegedly skimming signing bonuses, according to an MLB source.

 

Sources also told ESPN that the investigation is expected to implicate roughly 20 people on "a handful" of teams before it is complete. Investigators also have expanded their probe into Venezuela, where many major league clubs have player academies. "Things are coming to a head," one source familiar with MLB's investigation said.

 

Four MLB investigators returned to the United States from the Dominican last week and are preparing a report for the commissioner's office. While clubs have fired several officials already implicated in the scandal, MLB has worked closely with the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation into the alleged skimming of bonuses.

 

One source briefed on MLB investigators' findings said he believed "less than a half-dozen" teams would be implicated, including the Yankees, Red Sox, Nationals and White Sox.

 

...

Sources said FBI agents have not traveled to the Dominican, and contrary to media reports, have limited their probe thus far to allegations surrounding fired White Sox official David Wilder, Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and Nationals special assistant Jose Rijo.

 

Wilder has not commented and did not return several phone calls.

 

...

The scandal began to break in March when Wilder, then the scouting director for the White Sox, was stopped in Miami by U.S. Customs officials while trying to bring about $40,000 in cash back from the Dominican Republic. Sources said Wilder, who has not been criminally charged, has been cooperating with the FBI. He and two scouts were fired by the White Sox in May.

 

Wilder and others have been accused of inflating the value of some Dominican prospects, then demanding a kickback from the players' families once the players were signed. Critics have long complained that street agents known as "buscones" had been taking large cuts of players' bonuses as fees, but the news that scouts and other officials employed by the clubs were taking money has jolted the island.

 

"The families went along with it because they were still getting the money," one source said. "[The scouts] were really stealing money from the clubs."

[knightni]

Almost makes you wonder what and about whom Wilder will talk about with the FBI.

[fathom]

Almost makes you wonder what and about whom Wilder will talk about with the FBI.

 

As someone in that article said, this is coming to a head. There's some high-level executives that will have to answer serious questions, as the dealings are even shadier than what's been reported so far.

[EvilMonkey]

To go off on sort of a tangent, is there anyone around who doesn't know that bringing huge amounts of cash thru an airport will most likely get it taken away?

[fathom]

To go off on sort of a tangent, is there anyone around who doesn't know that bringing huge amounts of cash thru an airport will most likely get it taken away?

 

The reason the FBI got involved so early was because they thought it was drug money.

[EvilJester99]

Any chance KW or anyone else from the Sox get tied into this?

[kapkomet]

Any chance KW or anyone else from the Sox get tied into this?

Well, stay tuned, is all I can say (not that I know anything... but this is interesting, nonetheless.)

[witesoxfan]

Any chance KW or anyone else from the Sox get tied into this?

 

If they knew (or can prove they knew) about it, I'm sure there could be very serious implications.

[LosMediasBlancas]

To go off on sort of a tangent, is there anyone around who doesn't know that bringing huge amounts of cash thru an airport will most likely get it taken away?

 

 

Wilder evidently.

[caulfield12]

Wilder evidently.

 

I lived in Colombia, South America, for one year...and it's just a given that when you bring money into the US from another country, you should never even dream about bringing more than $10,000.

 

I'm sure Wilder thought he could sneak it through in his luggage and didn't declare it on his customs declaration.

 

If he was smart, he would have taken the loss and sent it to someone through Western Union...then again, this might have created a paper trail, perhaps that was his concern. There are other options, though, like bank/wire transfers (another electronic trail). I think www.xoom.com might have worked.

 

All I know is that I would never contemplate bringing that much money into the US from another country, especially a Caribbean country where they're looking for drug money/laundering/embezzling at the entry points/ports/international airports into the States.

Edited August 5, 2008 by caulfield12

[Kyyle23]

I lived in Colombia, South America, for one year...and it's just a given that when you bring money into the US from another country, you should never even dream about bringing more than $10,000.

 

I'm sure Wilder thought he could sneak it through in his luggage and didn't declare it on his customs declaration.

If he was smart, he would have taken the loss and sent it to someone through Western Union...then again, this might have created a paper trail, perhaps that was his concern. There are other options, though, like bank/wire transfers (another electronic trail). I think www.xoom.com might have worked.

 

All I know is that I would never contemplate bringing that much money into the US from another country, especially a Caribbean country where they're looking for drug money/laundering/embezzling at the entry points/ports/international airports into the States.

 

 

Or even better, he could have taken his salary like a normal guy and not engage in illegal activities like skimming payouts.