(CNN)He hasn't got a professional baseball glove for 21 years, but he has a salary. Masu-and so a lot of people.
It's July 1st. This means it's Bobby Bonilla Day for New York Mets fans.
Former Slugger, who retired with St. Louis Cardinals in 2001, has been collecting nearly $ 1.2 million checks from Mets every July 1st for over a decade.
This contract is part of a contract negotiated by Bonilla's agent Dennis Gilbert, who will pay Bonilla $ 1,193,248.20 annually until 2035. Former All-Star Bonilla, who last played with Mets in 1999, is 72 years old. His contract with the team expires.
How could Gilbert secure such a sweet deal for his client? They can both thank the shameful financier Bernie Madoff and the owner of the Mets, Fred Wilpon.
Mets wanted to part with Bonilla in 1999, but his contract left $ 6 million. Wilpon believed that he was making huge returns on his investment through Madoff, but the owner of Mets turned out to be the victim of Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme
Bonilla. Instead of paying in full, Wilpon unknowingly invests in Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which he chose to defer payments so that he could make money.
Gilbert negotiated with the team and postponed payment until 2011 at an annual interest rate of 8%.
Madoff was the mastermind of the most notorious Ponzi scheme in history. The Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that uses funds from recent investors to pay profits to former investors, making them believe that their investment is part of a successful company.
Madoff has been in prison for 150 years for the billion-dollar plans he has implemented for decades.
Due to Wilpon's blunder, Bonilla will leave with a total payday of $ 29.8 million.
