The Smoking Gun has reported that the FBI informant that led IRS Special Agent, Jeff Novitzky, to Kirk Radomski is former landlord, Andrew Michael Bogdan.
Essentially all the new information in the Mitchell Report derived from Bogdan fingering Radomski. Of course from Radomski, came his numerous customers, including Brian McNamee which led to Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. A 2005 search warrant for Radomski’s home described an FBI informant, but failed to name Bogdan specifically.
According to the Smoking Gun, in 2001 Bogdan “pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements and commit wire fraud” as part of a real estate scheme.
Mike Bogdan agreed to become an FBI informant in early-2001, immediately after being nabbed for his role in a massive property flipping scam that relied on inflated appraisals and phony documents to illegally obtain about $3 million in government-insured loans.
After Bogdan had befriended Baltimore Orioles player, Larry Bigbie in 2003, Bogdan reportedly offered up information about performance enhancing drug use in MLB to investigators who set up an interview with Novitzky. Bogdan had previously only been providing information about the real estate scheme.
That is when Bigbie made the mistake of telling Bogdan about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, which Bigbie said he obtained from a source in New York… In response, Bogdan went right to the FBI and prosecutor Barbara Sale with the information (along with heading the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore, Sale is the office's Confidential Human Source Coordinator). In turn, Bogdan's FBI handlers contacted Novitzky with details of what their source had reported. Within days, Novitzky and fellow IRS Agent Erwin Rogers were in Baltimore for a February 18 meeting with Bogdan and his FBI handlers.
The New York Times report included a response from Bogdan.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, Bogdan said many aspects of the (The Smoking Gun’s) story were either incorrect or taken out of context. He would not say whether he helped federal agents in their investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs by baseball players but later said: “I know nothing about that, that’s the funny thing. I know nothing about the steroids stuff.”
In 2006, Bogdan was convicted of real estate fraud and sentenced to 5 years probation and ordered to pay $277 000 in restitution.
Sources
- Major League SnitchThe Smoking Gun
- Steroids Informant Previously Convicted of FraudNew York Times
