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The Boston Globe this weekend reported that a charity founded by New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez funneled just under 99 percent of funds raised via a 2006 high stakes poker tournament into the coffers of Rodriguez.
Only Gave $5,090 Of The $403,862 He Raised For Charity To the charity, A-Rod Family Foundation, that paper contends.
A foundation started by New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez gave only 1 percent of proceeds to charity during its first year of operation in 2006, then stopped submitting mandatory financial reports to the IRS and was stripped of its tax-exempt status. Yet the group's website still tells visitors the A-Rod Family Foundation is a nonprofit organization.
Rodriguez talked openly about his desire to reverse bad publicity in 2006 after being exposed as a member of an underground poker club. He started a foundation and teamed with rapper Jay-Z to host a celebrity poker tournament for charity.
"I got in some trouble for poker last year, so why not turn it around and raise some money for the children?" Rodriguez said in an interview with MLB.com at the time.
The event helped the A-Rod Family Foundation raise $403,862 in 2006, but little found its way to charity, according to IRS records. The foundation gave $5,000 to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund and $90 to a Little League Baseball club in Miami.
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A-Rod was accused of having taken part in underground high stakes poker games as part of lawsuit filed against Hollywood actor Toby Maguire and others back in 2011. The league later met with Rodriguez to discuss the matter. The Yankees star was not named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit, however.
Poker pro Dan Bilzerian, at the time, did assert he personally witnessed A-Rod participating in such high stakes tournaments.
"Alex busted everyone except me. I was like whoa, this guy can play. He had an amazing run. He won about $20,000 and left with everyone's money," Bilzerian, 27, said of an encounter at the Bellagio in Vegas.
Bilzerian told Star Magazine A-Rod’s first foray into high stakes poker took place, presumably in 2006, at the home of investor and record label owner Cody Leibel’s $16.5 million Beverly Hills mansion, where cocaine usage was readily observed.
A-Rod’s attorney denied such allegations.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
