It is July 1, which for New York Mets followers means it is Bobby Bonilla Day.
The previous slugger retired in 2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals, however he has been gathering a verify of almost $1.2 million from the Mets yearly on July 1 for greater than a decade.
The deal is a part of a contract negotiated by Bonilla’s agent Dennis Gilbert, which can pay Bonilla $1,193,248.20 yearly till 2035. Bonilla, a former All-Star who final performed with the Mets in 1999, might be 72 when his contract with the staff expires.
How was Gilbert capable of safe such a candy deal for his shopper? They will each thank disgraced financier Bernie Madoff and Mets proprietor Fred Wilpon.
The Mets needed to half methods with Bonilla in 1999, however he had $6 million left on his contract. Wilpon believed he was getting an enormous return on his investments via Madoff however the Mets proprietor turned out to be a sufferer of Madoff’s notorious Ponzi scheme
As a substitute of paying Bonilla outright, Wilpon opted to defer funds in order that the cash could possibly be unwittingly invested into Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Gilbert negotiated with the staff to defer funds till 2011, with an 8% annual rate of interest.
Madoff was the mastermind of essentially the most infamous Ponzi scheme in historical past. A Ponzi scheme is a type of fraud that makes use of funds from newer traders to pay income to earlier traders, main them to consider that their investments are a part of a profitable enterprise.
Madoff is serving 150 years in jail for the multibillion-dollar scheme that he ran for many years.
In complete, Bonilla will stroll away with a $29.8 million payday due to Wilpon’s blunder.
