If Tony Bosch, the founder of Biogenesis, had ever met his namesake, Hieronymus Bosch, the medieval painter who depicted stark images of hell, he might have a slightly different perspective of how much you can buck the system.
Bosch made a controversial deal with Major League Baseball last summer in which MLB promised to leave his family alone and provide Bosch with lawyers and bodyguards in exchange for Bosch offering evidence implicating big stars such as Alex Rodriguez. But according to new filings in federal court, Bosch used the money MLB gave to his lawyer and security team, over $1 million, for luxury hotels, lavish dinners, strip clubs, and paying his pregnant girlfriend.
The accusations stem from a criminal case against former University of Miami pitching coach Lazer Collazo, who is charged with inducing young athletes to use Biogenesis, which provided banned substances to players in MLB. Collazo’s attorney, Frank Quintero, wants to impugn Bosch’s credibility as a witness, and has been trying for months to retrieve documentation from Bosch’s lawyer, Susy Ribero-Ayala as to how Bosch used MLB’s money improperly.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga decided that Collazo had a valid argument, and demanded documents outlining MLB’s payments to Bosch and related documents. Quintero alleges that the documents Ribero-Ayala offered on January 30 left out crucial information, as they were heavily redacted and incomplete. He argued, “[She] clearly and unequivocally violated this Court’s January 21st order by selectively choosing which documents to produce, (and) excessively and unjustifiably redacting the documents produced.”
Quintero filled in the blanks, stating $1.7 million given to Raj Badree, Bosch’s personal bodyguard, became a “slush fund. He said Badree and Ribero-Ayala tried to fool MLB by submitting “vague invoices” for “hotel expenses” or “investigative services,” while “the billing party would use said moneys for the benefit of Bosch, such as paying Bosch’s child support payments, extravagant hotel stays totaling over tens of thousands of dollars, meals at fancy restaurants, tabs at night clubs, and expenses at strip clubs.” In addition, he wrote, Badree gave funds to “Bosch’s girlfriend, who was allegedly pregnant with Mr. Bosch’s child, [or] to an ex-business partner of Bosch’s.” Quintero concluded that Bosch wrote numerous checks to cover his child-support payments.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney told Miami New Times that MLB had no knowledge of wrongdoing, stating, “We have no knowledge of any improper usage of payments we made to Bosch’s security firm.”
Bosch has remained unrepentant regarding his role in supplying players with PEDs. He told 60 Minutes in January that he didn’t feel guilty, arguing that he simply made players equal, and asserting that “the guy catching the baseball” and “the guy Alex tags out at third base” likely cheated, too.
Bosch will be sentenced on Tuesday for his role in heading Biogenesis when it handed over PEDs to MLB players. He has already pleaded guilty for illegally distributing testosterone. But the chance of a reduced sentence for his aid in offering evidence may diminish because of the new accusations.
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