Whistleblower: Biogenesis aided athletes from many sports
The scandal that brought down Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun might grow exponentially.
Porter Fischer, the whistleblower who used to work for the Biogenesis clinic, told ESPN on Thursday that there are numerous other athletes from other sports who obtained banned performance-enhancing drugs from the now-shuttered South Florida company.
He said Biogenesis had clients from the NBA, NCAA, professional boxing, tennis and mixed martial arts.
Fischer said in the interview that he was the source for the Miami New Times' report earlier this year that opened the lid on the scandal that led to Braun being suspended for the remainder of the season. He decided to turn over the documents to the New Times as a way of getting back at Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch, whom he said owed him money.
According to ESPN, Bosch has been supplying Major League Baseball with documents to help its investigation into approximately 20 players, including injured New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Others whose names have been leaked in connection with the case include Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon, Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera.
Fischer said accepted $5,500 from MLB officials to ensure his assistance in their investigation, but that he later declined a $125,000 offer from MLB. ESPN said a source connected to MLB confirmed the dollar amount.
"Previously, I had been getting calls from them every day," he said in the ESPN interview. "Once I turned them down for the $125,000, two days later they wrote me a letter instructing me not to destroy any documents and to keep them around."
He said more than half of the Biogenesis documents he had were stolen from his car in March.
"(My) life has been turned upside down" by his involvement in the scandal, Fischer said.
