MIAMI — Taped conversations between Joe DiMaggio's attorney and a New Jersey memorabilia dealer are part of an investigation into whether they plotted to make millions off a secret stash of gear autographed by the late baseball star.
The Miami Herald reported that an unnamed source gave it copies of taped telephone conversations between DiMaggio attorney Morris Engelberg and memorabilia dealer Scott DiStefano made several months before DiMaggio's death in March 1999.
The tapes are part of a New York grand jury's probe of the pair's dealings, the Herald reported.
Engelberg, the trustee of DiMaggio's estate, was known as a close associate and friend to the late Yankee Clipper. He started working for DiMaggio in 1983 as a tax lawyer and by the 1990s was handling all of DiMaggio's business dealings.
DiStefano worked for B&J Collectibles, a New Jersey firm with exclusive rights to sell autographed DiMaggio baseballs. He also ran his own freelance company.
In the telephone exchanges, secretly taped by DiStefano's boss, the pair allegedly discussed how they could profit off pennants, baseballs and jerseys autographed by the baseball great, who was then 83 and in declining health.
In a Sept. 4, 1998, taped phone conversation, for example, Engelberg told DiStefano: "I'm having (Joe) sign three, four thousand balls. He loses track. Five thousand balls. That's how I dribble mine in."
Engelberg later added, "There's millions of dollars in this thing here if you don't blow it."
In another conversation, Engelberg told DiStefano that he kept DiMaggio memorabilia stashed in a hurricane-proof area beneath his home's stairwell.
DiStefano declined comment when contacted by the Herald. Engelberg has acknowledged the conversations but said their meaning has been misinterpreted. Engelberg defended his actions on Sunday.
"It was authorized in writing by my client," Engelberg told The Associated Press, adding that he has never heard the tapes.
In a notarized letter dated Oct. 9, 1998 and given to The Herald by Engelberg, DiMaggio states that he "listened in your presence to the numerous telephone calls between Scott DiStefano and yourself in connection with the Rawlings baseballs, sale of jerseys, your personal memorabilia collection including my jersey which I gifted to you over the years, the sale of other items of my memorabilia collection., as well as future memorabilia ventures ..."
The letter wraps up: "Whatever tactics you use in dealing with these 'people' is acceptable and authorized."
In the end, the deal between Engelberg and DiStefano never happened. DiMaggio slipped into a coma and none of the baseballs were signed or sold.
"I was carrying out his actions and it never went through," Engelberg said.
The allegations firsts surfaced in Richard Ben Cramer's book, "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life," where he claimed Engelberg and DiStefano struck a deal to get DiMaggio to sign some 2,000 baseballs and sell them without his knowledge, splitting the money.
Engelberg said he is planning to sue Cramer and others for character defamation.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White's office have subpoenaed documents involving Engelberg and two New Jersey memorabilia salesman, the Daily News reported Aug. 17. Engelberg had no comment on legal proceedings involving him.