Man Accused of Selling MLB Pitcher's Yacht

A Tampa man faces criminal charges after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says he sold Major League Baseball pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s yacht without his knowledge. What’s more, the agency says the man kept the cash he received from the sale.

The multi-agency investigation kicked off in July when the Miami-Dade Police Department provided FDLE agents with information about the fraudulent sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher’s yacht. Agents say Anthony Acosta, 38, worked as Arroyo’s personal assistant for a time, but was terminated in 2012.

The brouhaha over the yacht began to unfold a few years ago when Acosta contacted Arroyo to tell him his yacht, which was stored in Tampa, had sunk, FDLE wrote in a media release. Investigators say Acosta quoted higher repair costs to Arroyo in an attempt to get more cash and then moved the boat to a storage facility in Opa-Locka.

“In July 2013, Acosta fraudulently sold Arroyo’s vessel for $22,000,” the media release stated. The boat was valued at $167,000.

The case began to unravel in September 2013, when the boat’s new owners contacted Acosta to say the yacht had a lien on it. They wanted their money back. The new owners contacted Arroyo directly in April 2014 to address the situation since Acosta, FDLE said, refused to give them their money back.

“Arroyo, not being involved with the sale, discovered that Acosta had forged his signature on the bill of sale, and that Acosta had sold his boat without permission,” the release said.

Acosta was brought into custody Monday and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail. He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond Tuesday, jail records indicate.

Booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Jail