A retired professional baseball player and his spouse face charges following a fraud probe involving an Ontario youth baseball program, as per Durham police. The investigation revealed that around $60,000 in fees for the 2025-2026 Ontario Devil Rays training program were deposited into a program-linked bank account between April 1 and Oct. 31 last year. However, the funds were later transferred to accounts connected to Michelle Butler, 52, and her husband Richard Butler, 53, of Frankfurt, Ont.
Allegedly, the registration fees were not utilized for the program’s intended purposes, and the promised services were not rendered. Families who had paid the fees were notified via email on Oct. 19, 2025, that the business had folded due to financial struggles and declared bankruptcy. Subsequently, investigators discovered that the lawyer’s name on the email was used without authorization, and no bankruptcy proceedings were initiated.
Richard and Michelle Butler are facing charges that include fraud over $5,000, possession of property obtained through crime exceeding $5,000, and uttering a forged document. The accused individual shares a name and age with a player who had brief stints in Major League Baseball, playing for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 1998 and 1999. Police are investigating further potential victims and urge anyone with relevant information to contact Durham police.