These days, Alex Rodriguez must spend more time in courtrooms and lawyer's offices than he does on the field. The suspended slugger is now facing a civil lawsuit accusing him of screwing his former brother-in-law out of profits from real estate dealings in Miami's Edgewater and Morningside neighborhoods.
Back in 2003, Rodriguez and Constantin Scurtis, the brother of his then-wife Cynthia, agreed to invest in properties in Edgewater. Which, considering that Edgewater is now the city's biggest developer hotspot, was actually a great idea.
The two formed multiple limited liability companies to snatch up around 11 properties in the areas between Northeast 24th and 61st Streets. According to the agreement, A-Rod provided the financial backing and was entitled to 94.99 percent of the profit.
Meanwhile, Scurtis's ACREI LLC joined in as a general partner. Between his personal stake of 0.01 percent and ACREI's share of 4.99 percent, Scurtis was supposed to get a windfall of 5 percent of the profits.
However, according to Daily Business Review, Scurtis claims that Rodriguez went behind his back and divested the properties without his knowledge and kept all the profits for himself.
Scurtis filed a suit against Rodriguez in Miami-Dade court on December 17, claiming that he had the executive power to approve all sales of the property.
Scurtis is seeking at least $15,000 in damages as well as court fees. Rodriguez and his lawyers have not yet responded to the suit.
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