Dodgers Dream Foundation Backed by Ponzi Schemer Bruce Friedman

There are few owners in sports, and people around for that matter, who are dirtier than Frank and Jamie McCourt. I worked for the team the first year they came in as owners so I got a firsthand taste of what they were like. Anyone could tell from the start that the McCourts were bad news after they immediately fired 10-25% of the personnel in every single department throughout the organization. This was followed by jacking up prices for parking, concessions, and most notably ticket sales. It took quite sometime before people began realizing how evil the McCourts are, and thanks to their divorce case all their nasty tricks, embezzlements, schemes, and unethical conduct has been brought to light.

Thankfully Bud Selig finally pulled the plug on Frank and took over the team last week, but not before the McCourts completely embarrassed themselves and the franchise. Even though Frank is no longer running the team and Jamie has had little to do with them for quite some time, the stories of their disgusting actions and business moves has not gone away.

On Thursday evening, Robert Tufts at The Examiner pointed out how hypocritical it is of the Dodgers to say the Mets are getting better treatment from MLB than they are. Dodgers spokesman Steve Soboroff’s point is that the Mets participated in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and that’s why they’ve lost their money, so they shouldn’t get a break from MLB. Tufts pointed out that the Dodgers are hardly different — they were tied to Bruce Friedman who pledged $5 million toward the Dodgers Dream Foundation in a joint effort with the team to build 50 fields. You know what else is interesting about Friedman? He ran a $228 million Ponzi scheme that the Dodgers claim they weren’t aware of.

On top of all that, Sports by Brooks points out that shortly after making a $25,000 donation to another Dodgers charity, Friedman was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at an exhibition game in 2008. Coincidence? Not for the McCourts.

While this all happened a few years ago, it’s the first I’ve heard of any of it, and it’s just another example of the type of shady characters with whom the money-hungry McCourts associated.

Oh yeah, and to refresh your memory of all the genuine good deeds done by the McCourts, I take the pleasure in reminded you that the Dodgers mandated players donate money to the Dodgers Dream Foundation when they signed contracts with the team. On top of that, they also paid Howard Sunkin $400,000 per year to run the $1.6 million charity in 2007. Classic disgusting Dodgers dirtiness.

For more on this story, I encourage you to check out Sports by Brooks.