Darryl Strawberry’s Wife Fights the Tax Man

MANHATTAN (CN) - Darryl Strawberry's wife, who manages the baseball legend's marketing company, says the IRS illegally seized $50,000 from her husband's autobiography "Straw: Finding My Way."

Tracy Strawberry is sole manager of co-plaintiff Straw Marketing. She says the IRS improperly seized $50,000 from HarperCollins after a tax audit of Darryl Strawberry.

HarperCollins, which published the book, did business with only Straw Marketing, and Darryl Strawberry had no right to be compensated for the agreement, Tracy Strawberry says in her federal complaint.

Because Straw Marketing and Tracy are not Darryl Strawberry's nominees for tax purposes, the IRS' seizing money from the book deal is illegal, according to the complaint.

Tracy Strawberry says she and Straw Marketing filed a wrongful levy claim in December 2010, which the IRS denied in August 2011.

She wants the IRS levies voided and all the money it seized returned to Straw Marketing.

The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas Curtin with Lathrop & Gage.

The 6-page complaint is accompanied by 54 pages of attachments.

Darryl Strawberry, an 8-time All-Star who hit 335 home runs and batted in 1,000 runs during a 17-year career with the Mets and Yankees, later became known for a welter of personal and legal problems, including drug use and cancer. His book was published in 2009.

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