McCourt Divorce Uncovers Dodgers Paying Themselves Rent

We thought the divorce of Jaime and Frank McCourt might turn up some fun stuff. We were right. The Dodgers pay rent $14 million to be at a stadium they own. Creative accounting? Inspired!

KTLA’s Bill Shaikin writes:

The Dodgers pay rent to Blue Land, which is not involved in stadium operations. Boies said the rental payments offered the McCourts the option of working around restrictions on receiving cash directly from team coffers.

“It’s a way of taking money out of the Dodgers and putting it into a place they can access it,” Boies said.

In court papers, lawyers for Jamie McCourt have suggested the $24-million surplus could be funneled to Frank McCourt through Blue Land.

The McCourts took $108 million out of the Dodgers from 2004-09 to fund what her lawyers called “an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle,” according to court filings.

Frank McCourt has said in court papers that a bank had placed restrictions on his annual income. Those restrictions are not enforced against revenue distributed by Blue Land, according to the deposition of the Dodgers’ chief financial officer, Peter Wilhelm.

Previously on FBLA:

Fundraiser for Poor Poor Jaime McCourt

Frank McCourt Dead at 78, Other Frank McCourt Still Alive

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