A former American professional baseball player named Lenny Dykstra has an estimated net worth of -$25 million. How can someone have a minus net worth? The short answer to the question is that he had to face so many cases. To understand about everything, you will need to read about the whole post that will uncover about his financial issues, his legal issues, and so on.
Financial Issues
After his retirement as a baseball player, Lenny Dykstra started to try business. His business ventures included a jet charter company, magazines, and some other ones. Unfortunately, no one of his businesses was successful. Aside from that, he was also included in some cases, including the allegations of credit card fraud, check fraud, failing to pay his rent, and so on. To take responsibility of his actions, he faced a number of lawsuits.
In 2009, Lenny Dykstra decided to fill for chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to the legal documents, he had just $50,000 in assets. It did not enough to pay for his debt of around $10 million and $50 millions. Lenny Dykstra actually stated that not everything was his fault. He said he was just the victim of mortgage fraud. This issue was apparently really known in United States as a lot of American were dealing with the same thing during this period of time.
As he had so many debts, Lenny Dykstra was homeless, forcing him to live out of his car and sometimes in front of lobbies of the hotels. The unfortunate events did not stop here as he was having a hard time selling his properties as the real estate professionals thought they were not worth being displayed. All the properties belonged to him had a few issues, including toxic mold, missing toilets, water damage, and some other things.
In the same year when he filled for chapter 11 bankruptcy, Lenny Dykstra was reported to auction off his World Series ring for $56,750 to help pay his debts.
Legal Issues
The situation faced by Lenny Dykstra was getting better at the end of 2009. As it was getting better, he switched to a chapter 7 bankruptcy. However, shortly after it got a bit better, he was accused of lying under oath and acting in a deceitful manner in bankruptcy court proceedings. He was found guilty as he had hidden and sold his assets while in bankruptcy. Due to his action violating the rules of bankruptcy, he was denied a discharge and he was still liable for his debts.
Two years after that, Lenny Dykstra involved in further legal issues. not only was arrested by police for trying to buy a stolen car and possessing a number of illicit drugs, he was also charged with embezzling from a bankruptcy estate. The prosecutors said that the man had destroyed or hidden more than $400,000 worth of assets. Due to his action, he was sentenced to house arrest. He did defend himself and said that he was not guilty to all the charges. However, there was not way for him to run away and in the end he faced a total of 13 charges against him and all of them would have resulted in a sentence of up to 80 years.
In 2012, Lenny Dykstra made up him mind and accepted all the charges, including the bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets, and money laundering. All of these charges were felonies, resulting him to be sentenced to 6.5 months in prison. In addition to that, he also had to pay a total of $200,000 in restitution. Plus, he also needed to complete a total of 500 hours of community service.
After everything above, Lenny Dykstra faced several other cases. In 1999, the man was arrested for sexual harassment. A year later, he was accused by a female escort of hiring her and then writing her a worthless check. Then, he was also accused of sexual assault by his housekeeper. After that, he was arrested for possession of drugs and for threating an Uber driver with a gun.
Career
In 1981, Lenny Dykstra started his career as a professional baseball player when he was drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round. In the Carolina League, the player was named as a standout player and he was the most valuable player or MVP.
Five years after that, Lenny Dykstra made his debut in the Major league. He was a tough opponent that’s why he was known as the Nails. The following year, he led the Mets to the World Series championship. One of the most memorable moments of him was at Fenway Park in the third game with the leadoff home run.
His time at the Mets did not last long as in 1989 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with his teammate Roger McDowell for Juan Samuel and Tom Edens. Just like in the Mets, he was well-loved in the new team. In 1990, he started the All-Star Game and he did well to the point he even came fourth in the batting average.
His career was not clean and smooth. He was injured several times and his performance did not live up to his plant. His pity performance forced him to retire when he was just 35 years of age.
Real Estate
In 2010, Lenny Dykstra listed his mansion located in southern California with a price tag of $14.9 million. The property was not in a good condition and the mess was everywhere. The man put this for sale about 6 months after declaring bankruptcy. In the past, it was owned by Wayne Gretzky and Lenny Dykstra purchased it for $17.5 million in 2007. According to the report, there were about $14.28 million worth of liens against the property, including a total of $12.9 million owned to JP Morgan & Chase. 11 years after selling it to Lenny Dykstra, Wayne Gretzky purchased the property back by paying $13.5 million. He got a total of $5 million profit.
