Mets’ Fred Wilpon among victims in alleged investment fraud

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Record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez, who signed a three-year, $37-million free-agent contract with the New York Mets this week, may want to collect that in cash rather than check. That’s because Mets owner Fred Wilpon and partner Saul Katz may have lost as much as $300 million in the fraudulent investment scheme allegedly run by Wall Street tycoon Bernard Madoff, according to CNBC.

Wilpon’s Sterling Equities, which owns the Mets, the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and real estate in New York and Florida, confirmed to the New York Post that it had invested money with Madoff but wouldn’t say how much. The company also declined to speculate on how the losses would affect the Mets.

Madoff has been charged with duping investors of as much as $50 billion in what authorities allege was a long-running Ponzi scheme.

-- Kevin Baxter