SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Police in the Dominican Republic say a Major League Baseball investigator has been charged with falsifying the identity of a prospect so the player could obtain a contract with a $135,000 signing bonus.
Authorities accused Kleiber Miguel Bruno Gonzalez on Thursday of accepting $25,000 and conspiring with a scout and an independent trainer to alter the player’s identity. Police did not identify the other people involved.
Police said in a statement that the U.S. Embassy helped with the investigation, which found that the player spent two years living with a woman who pretended to be his mother.
Bruno worked for an office MLB established in the Dominican Republic in 2002 to oversee possible fraud cases.