Sources: A federal grand jury is investigating MLB's international dealings, and officials on all sides are worried

The plundering of Latin America wasn’t Major League Baseball’s original sin. It’s simply the one that has festered the longest. Corruption of all kinds – illicit payoffs, bonus-money skimming, doping teenagers with performance-enhancing drugs – has been treated as the cost of doing business. And the fallout may finally strike the game with the sort of consequences that for decades have seemed inevitable.

A federal grand jury is looking into Major League Baseball teams’ international dealings and has issued subpoenas to club officials and other personnel involved in the transactions, three sources familiar with the probe told Yahoo Sports. Agents from the FBI have spearheaded the investigation, according to sources familiar with it, and lawyers from the Department of Justice who specialize in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases – which typically involve bribery of foreign officials – are involved as well. read more »

Ticketmaster Slapped With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Scalping

Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation are facing a class-action lawsuit over allegations that it facilitated scalping of live event tickets.

Law firm Hagens Berman filed the lawsuit in a California federal court on Friday, alleging that Ticketmaster engaged in “unlawful and unfair business practices” that ultimately harmed live eventgoers and “unjustly enriched” Ticketmaster. In a statement, the law firm said that Ticketmaster “knowingly worked with ticket scalpers” who purchased tickets from the company and then made money on secondary sales.

At the center of the lawsuit is the allegation that scalpers who buy tickets resell them at a higher price on Ticketmaster’s services.

“When you think of ticket buyers being swindled by scalpers, you likely imagine last-minute sales outside venue doors,” Steve Berman, Hagens Berman managing partner and co-founder said in a statement. “You certainly wouldn’t assume the company selling the tickets—Ticketmaster—to be the ringleader behind massive price hikes spanning millions of tickets.” read more »

SEC alleges $61-million Ponzi scheme by San Diego duo that lured investors with iPhone angle

A San Diego man has settled SEC allegations that he and another man ran a $61.5-million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 350 investors across multiple states.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Diego last week, accuses Jonny Ngo, 32, and Donato “Mick” Baca Jr., 36, of raising money from investors between 2013 and 2017 that was supposedly to be used to buy bulk electronics such as iPhone screens and drone aircraft overseas. These products were then to be distributed in the U.S. and sold at a substantial profit, investors were allegedly told.

The complaint alleges Ngo and Baca used money raised by new investors to pay prior investors in a classic Ponzi scheme. About $52 million was distributed in this way.

The SEC claims the rest went to fund Ngo’s and Baca’s “extravagant lifestyles, including gambling and purchasing luxury cars, watches and homes.” read more »

Wells Fargo has not done enough to refund cheated drivers: regulator

Wells Fargo & Co has not convinced U.S. regulators it is doing enough to repay 600,000 drivers who were wrongly pushed into buying auto insurance, a leading bank regulator said on Tuesday. read more »