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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Ticker) -- Five prominent major league players were named in a $35 million lawsuit over an alleged phone card scam, according to a report Sunday on the St. Petersburg Times' Web site.
Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada, New York Mets starter Pedro Martinez, New York Yankees reliever Octavio Dotel and Tampa Bay Devil Rays shortstop Julio Lugo reportedly were named in suit filed by Salvador Delgado, who is representing convenience store owners who say they unknowingly sold defective phone cards -- known as "Grandes Ligas" -- that were advertised by the players.
Also named in the suit are American Worldwide Telecom, STX Communications, TWD Prepaid Cards, STI Mobile and Global Compass Inc.
According to the lawsuit, a $2 phone card was supposed to provide a 70-minute call to the Dominican Republic, but only allowed customers to talk for about 10.
"These baseball players are basically heroes to the Dominican community," Delgado told the newspaper. "We find it disturbing they would be involved in a situation where products are defective and are being sold to the community under their image or names.
Ortiz's agent, Diego Bentz, told The Boston Globe that his client, Tejada and Martinez were lured into the deal by Dotel.
"They were trying to do a favor and it just snowballed," Bentz said.
Dominican players linked to phone card scam
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