McCourt Under Grand Jury Investigation

McCourt management of Dodgers under grand jury investigation
By Bill Shaikin
May 30, 2012, 11:49 a.m.



A federal grand jury is investigating possible criminal financial misconduct of the Dodgers and related entities during the ownership of Frank and Jamie McCourt, a person familiar with the matter told The Times.

Authorities have requested documents from representatives of each of the McCourts, the person said. The investigation started early last year and appears to be focused on the accounting and propriety of Dodgers spending, the person said.

The Los Angeles Daily Journal first reported the investigation.

The McCourt divorce proceedings and the Dodgers' subsequent bankruptcy filing led to revelations about how team money had been diverted for the personal use of the McCourts. In a Bankruptcy Court filing, Major League Baseball alleged McCourt had "looted" $189 million from the Dodgers for personal use, a claim attorneys for McCourt called inflammatory and unsupportable.

The California attorney general last year ordered the repayment of $361,432 to a Dodgers charity, citing the improper expenditure of a $239,080 bonus to team executive Howard Sunkin and a $122,352 consulting contract in violation of state rules governing charitable foundations.

The Dodgers paid two of the McCourts' adult sons a combined $600,000 in annual salary despite one working at Goldman Sachs and the other attending Stanford University.

Under McCourt, the Dodgers also established a separate company to own the Dodger Stadium parking lots, to which the team paid $14 million per year in rent. Peter Wilhelm, who resigned this month as the Dodgers' chief financial officer, said in court papers in 2010 that about $5 million of that year's fee would go to McCourt, about $4.5 million to debt service and about $4 million to construction managers.

The money for construction was intended primarily for another McCourt entity, the John McCourt Co. That company had two employees--Geoff Wharton, then the Dodgers' chief operating officer, and his assistant. The Dodgers had halted major stadium construction by then.

In a letter to Frank McCourt last year, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said the Internal Revenue Service is investigating the McCourts' tax returns from 2006, 2007 and 2008. The McCourt divorce settlement also references possible penalties for tax returns in 2008 and 2009.

The settlement stipulates that Frank McCourt "shall be treated, for tax purposes, as having owned 100% of the McCourt Entities and Dodger Assets at all times" and obligates him to repay Jamie McCourt for "any taxes, interest and penalties" regarding her 2008 and 2009 returns "as a result of removing any deductions, credits or losses that she has reported with respect to the McCourt Entities and Dodger Assets."

In a divorce court filing, Jamie McCourt said the couple paid no federal or state income tax from 2004 to 2009.

 

they will come out fine
someone complained
so the government is doing a courtesy check
these kind of pepole skate on this stuff
unless someone is out to make an example
every once in a while they need to sacrifice one of their own to throw off the suspicion

 

yeah, I know what you're saying
but I wouldn't be upset if they dropped the hammer on him

 

and get raped by a big black guy named Tiny.

 

she's back tubie...

Jamie McCourt on lessons learned from divorce, the Dodgers and pink slips
by Steve Dilbeck | Los Angeles Times — 8 hours ago



When things got ugly in the divorce between Frank and Jamie McCourt -- and they got cover-the-eyes ugly -- most couldn’t pick sides.

They were the couple who spent lavishly on themselves while bankrupting the proud Dodgers organization.

Now, whatever level of esteem you held for the McCourts, divorce is not something to wish even on a Giants fan. It too often gets vengeful, nasty and scandalous, and theirs was all that -- plus very public.

It’s been almost four years since they sold the team to the Guggenheim group, and for the most part, they’ve vanished from public view. Frank still owns the L.A. Marathon, not to mention half of the Dodger Stadium parking lots and a horse-jumping tour.

He has apparently remarried and recently purchased a little chateau in Yellowstone, to go along with his places in New York, Florida, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. Of course, when you sell something for $2.1 billion, you’re left with some spending money.

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Jamie, who seemed to relish the spotlight so much while operating as the Dodgers CEO -- you know, Stan Kasten’s job -- has also gone relatively quietly into her new life. This from the woman who once considered running for president of the U.S.

After the price of the team sale was revealed, she did go back to court to request more than the $131 million and four homes she had agreed to take in their divorce settlement, but failed.

She has been involved in some start-ups, bought a small Napa vineyard, is active in the arts and has learned to make do with her homes in Malibu. But she will also make the occasional speech, and last month did so at an MIT conference covered by Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung.

She was pretty honest about her time with the Dodgers.

“I got to know everyone -- business people, politicians, everyday citizens, actors, actresses, activists and heads of state. I loved every single minute of it. Right up until the day I was fired. By my husband,” McCourt said. “That’s right. He gave me a pink slip. And not the kind from Victoria’s Secret.”

Jamie -- who has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown, a law degree from the University of Maryland and a master's in business administration from MIT -- claimed she was snookered in her divorce agreement because she failed to pay attention to the family finances.

“ ... I could not have been more ignorant or naive about my own financial situation, and I ended up paying dearly for that mistake,” she said. “In fact, I have a thesis that the smarter a woman is, the more she thinks she can handle everything and fix everything. And I’m here to tell you that’s not true.”

The Globe’s Leung paints a sympathetic picture. There’s no reference to Jamie’s favorite Russian psychic. Though it’s not exactly Powerball money, most could get by on $130 million. Still, that’s not exactly half of $2.1 billion.

Jamie wants to reach women and let them know that it’s OK to want wealth She also wants to teach them how to get it. Leung said Jamie is exploring the launch of a national initiative to teach financial literacy to grade-school girls.

“I had comingled all of my money -- handed it over to him with no questions asked. I thought we were in it together, for the four boys. I could not have been more wrong,” she said. “I had to listen to him and his lawyers tell the court that, in spite of our 40 years together and 32 years of marriage, I deserved nothing. And I mean nothing. He said, and I quote, ‘She’s lucky to have been along for the ride.’”

Alas, not for the rest of us.​

 

tiger (cropped), jamie, torre and frank
serious question...
who's the biggest douche?

 

random thoughts...

TOMMY: ... I can't wait til this Selig takes the team from this asshat...
FRANK: ... Look at this place. LA fans fucken love me. I own LA. Now if I could just get rid of this ugly bkitch...
JAMIE: ... I'm gonna bang every guy I can, then divorce this smug ckunt and take all his shit...
CHICK w/SHADES: ... I would so do a threesome with Frank and Tommy...
SECURITY GUY: ... I would so do a threesome with Frank and Tommy...

​

 

something tells me i'm gonna have to create a hillary pic to wake tubie from his slumber
he does like them older babes
hell, i do too

 

hmmm...