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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.
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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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