As the Yankees find themselves embroiled in a battle for a postseason berth, Alex Rodriguez looks to be headed for a battle of his own, inside a courtroom.
The polarizing slugger, whose resurgence from a drug suspension has helped the Yankees regain relevancy in the AL East, is being sued for $100 million by Constantine Scurtis, Rodriguez's ex-brother-in-law and a former business partner, according to the New York Daily News.
MLB PLAYOFF RACE: What are the key series the rest of the way?
In an amended lawsuit filed Wednesday in a Miami-Dade County court, Scurtis alleged Rodriguez used their real estate business, Newport Property Ventures Ltd., to commit insurance and mortgage fraud following Hurricane Ike in 2008. Scurtis also claimed he was "wrongfully" removed from the company by Rodriguez and that Rodriguez filed a false tax return that resulted in a $388,000 lien on Scurtis’ Miami-area house.
Rodriguez is accused of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and tortious interference.
Rodriguez's attorney, John C. Lukacs Sr., told the Daily News on Wednesday he could not comment on the new complaint because he had not had a chance to review it.
"We viewed Mr. Scurtis’ allegations in the original complaint as frivolous, moved to strike that complaint as (a) sham and intend to respond to his amended complaint accordingly,” Lukacs told the Daily News.
Scurtis, the younger brother of Rodriguez’s ex-wife, Cynthia, alleged in the complaint that Rodriguez forced him out of their business partnership in 2008 because of Rodriguez’s discontent over his divorce. Rodriguez, the complaint said, filed K-1 partnership tax forms falsely listing Scurtis as the recipient of more than $2 million in capital gains from the sale of their mutual properties.
“Mr. Rodriguez misled the IRS into thinking that he paid Scurtis partnership monies, when in fact he did not,” Joel Denaro, one of Scurtis’ attorneys, told the Daily News.
Entering Wednesday, Rodriguez was batting .257/.364/.493 with 26 home runs and 69 RBIs — a major reason why the Yankees are two games out of first place in the AL East. His new legal battle may put a slight damper on the feel-good season.
