From the archives: Baseball greats got cash at card show; federal tax probe underway

This story was originally published in Newsday on Dec. 10, 1994

The federal government is investigating whether some of the greatest baseball players of all time failed to report cash income from card shows.

Two card-show promoters have pleaded guilty to tax fraud in New York and said in open court that they paid vast sums of cash to the stars - specifically $ 27,000 to Mickey Mantle.

"The investigation is continuing; we have no further comment," said Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney William Muller, speaking for Zachary Carter, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in Brooklyn.

Sources familiar with the investigation said among the players questioned about a specific 1989 show and others were Mantle, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Duke Snider, Eddie Mathews and Frank Robinson.

Some appeared before a grand jury. DiMaggio and Williams were the only ones who could document that they paid taxes on the money they took in.

None of the players has been charged. Mantle's attorney and business manager, Roy True, said he was assured by Carter's office yesterday that Mantle is not a target.

It is not clear whether Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks was questioned personally, but sources said his representatives were. Sources say there is an ongoing dispute in the U.S. attorney's office over whether to indict Banks for failing to report $ 10,000 in cash. The dispute is over whether $ 10,000 is enough of a crime to indict a person of the Hall of Famer's stature.

Others at the New Jersey show included Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey and Pete Rose. It is not known whether all or any of them were questioned.

Those reports come in the wake of Darryl Strawberry's indictment Thursday for failing to report $ 500,000 in income - also mostly in cash - from card shows and promotional appearances. Sources said there was competition between the Eastern District office in Brooklyn and the Southern District in Manhattan over who was going to indict a ballplayer first. The Strawberry case was handled by the Southern District.

The investigation of the Hall of Famers stems mainly from Super Show One - featuring the 11 living players with more than 500 career home runs - at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on Jan. 15, 1989. William J.F. Hongach, 40, and Michael Bertolini, 28, the show's promoters, both pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the past four months.

Bertolini, who once placed bets for Rose, said in his plea statement, "I paid them moneys in the form of cash with the understanding that it wouldn't be reported."

In accepting Bertolini's plea Oct. 28, Magistrate Marilyn Go asked him: "Was the purpose to avoid paying income taxes in this case?" Bertolini responded: "Yes, in addition to making sure they got paid."

Hongach, in his plea statement Aug. 19, said he delivered $ 27,000 in cash to Mantle and his agent Greer Johnson in an Atlantic City hotel room and added that no receipts were exchanged or requested by either side.

Mantle has cooperated fully with the investigation, his attorney said. "We've given immense amounts of information," True said, including tax returns. He added that it is not unusual for celebrities to accept their fees in cash.

"People have to distinguish between receipt of cash, and then what was done with it. No one will take a check from a promoter."

It might be hard for Mantle to address these matters at all. He has suffered from alcohol-related blackouts and spent time at the Betty Ford Clinic in April for treatment of his drinking problem.

"It's not like he doesn't remember the show at all. He doesn't remember any level of detail," True told Newsday yesterday. Asked if that was a result of his drinking or the five years that have elapsed, True said, "I'd say it was both."

Mays' attorney, Carl Kiesler, said both he and Mays testified against other people, "But it had nothing whatsoever to do with Willie. We're in fine shape." He said he has been told by people in the U.S. attorney's office that Mays is not a target.

Banks' attorney did not return phone calls.

Rose - who was sentenced to five months in jail on federal tax evasion charges in 1990 - helped Bertolini recruit the legends for the three-day show. Authorities began investigating the promoters for fraud - on suspicion that they were selling autographs that were not authentic. Ultimately, those charges weren't brought.

But, in the course of that investigation, it was found that large sums of cash changed hands.

Court papers also said that Capital Cards, Hongach's company, falsely reported $ 22,197 in gross receipts from Super Show One on its income tax returns when the actual amount was $ 482,905.80.

Bertolini said in court: "They wouldn't take checks from me. They all wanted to be paid right then and there for what they did. So, over the course of the three-day convention, I had to pay them any monies due them. Then, when I ran out of money, I had no choice in some circumstances, I did give them checks, but I had to pay out as much cash to the athletes as I could get my hands on."

Card shows and memorabilia conventions have become a big business over the past 10 years. Athletes and former athletes can make five-figure fees in a matter of hours. Strawberry, the former Met standout, faces up to five years in jail for allegedly failing to report about $ 500,000 in income, according to the indictment handed up Thursday. He and his agent, Eric Goldschmidt, will be arraigned Wednesday in White Plains.