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According to the New York Daily News, Miami Circuit Court Judge Monica Gordo denied Rodriguez’s and the other defendants’ motion to dismiss a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit filed by Constantine Scurtis, the younger brother of Rodriguez’s ex-wife Cynthia.
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The suit stems from a business relationship gone bad. Rodriguez and Scurtis started ACREI L.L.C., a real estate company back in 2003. Scurtis was ousted from the partnership in 2008, which is around the time Rodriguez and his ex-wife divorced. Now Scurtis is looking to make up for lost money and lost opportunity, claiming that Rodriguez’s decision was personal, seeing as Scurtis had helped the company earn $50M in profits.
Here are more details from the Daily News story:
In the 19-count suit, one of the more explosive claims is Scurtis accusing Rodriguez and another business associate of mortgage and insurance fraud. The suit also alleges breach of partnership, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy.
According to the lawsuit, A-Rod’s and Scurtis’ relationship splintered after Scurtis was forced out of Newport Property Ventures, the operating company that was formed from ACREI L.L.C. Scurtis claims his ouster “can only be presumed to be retaliation against his ex-wife,” referring to Rodriguez’s ’08 divorce from Cynthia.
The suit alleges that Scurtis is still owed millions in acquisition and management fees, while it also accuses Rodriguez of falsely listing Scurtis as the recipient of over $2,000,000.00 in capital gains from sales of partnership properties. The latter, Scurtis claims, triggered a tax obligation. The IRS agreed to suspend collection of the tax money until the suit is concluded.
Rodriguez has been keeping himself busy since his abrupt retirement last August. He worked the postseason as a studio analyst for FOX Sports. He’s accepted several speaking engagements, including one earlier this week at the University of Southern California. He’s even served as an instructor for the Yankees at spring training.
Now it seems he’ll have one more iron in the fire, though it’s one he hoped would have gone away by now.
There was no immediate word on when the case might proceed. The attorneys for both Rodriguez and Scurtis declined to comment following the ruling, so it’s a wait-and-see game now to see where the case goes and how much it might impact Rodriguez’s fortune.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!Follow @Townie813