Sox dismiss Dominican scouting supervisor

KANSAS CITY - Dominican scouting supervisor Pablo Lantigua was "dismissed for violation of team rules" according to a brief statement issued by the Red Sox tonight.

The statement was in response to an ESPN.com report of an ongoing investigation of accusations that up to 20 people and a "handful of organizations" including the Red Sox and Yankees were involved in skimming money from signing bonuses of young Dominican players.

The dismissal of Lantigua was first reported by the Boston Herald.

ESPN.com reported the Sox fired Lantigua, "after MLB investigators confronted him about allegedly skimming signing bonuses, according to an MLB source."

The FBI is also investigating the case, which started when White Sox international scouting director Dave Wilder was fired after authorities stopped him for carrying a $40,000 check from Dominican players' bonuses across the border into the United States. Wilder once interviewed for the Sox GM job.