In recent weeks, the FBI has put files online from its investigations into O.J. Simpson, the crash of Swissair Flight 111 and Russia’s election interference.

Amid the dump of declassified records was a surprising local name, too: late Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

Newly disclosed investigative files reveal for the first time that the FBI twice investigated Angelos during his life.

In the mid-1980s, federal authorities were looking into whether Angelos was running a sham medical service company and fraudulently billing insurers. FBI agents went as far as executing a search warrant at one of his offices in Northeast Baltimore, and federal prosecutors obtained grand jury subpoenas.

The FBI investigated Angelos again, in the late 1990s, over an allegation that he had bribed a state senator.

Both investigations ended quietly. Angelos was not charged with any related crimes.

Still, the nearly 400 pages of never-before-seen investigative records reveal new chapters in the life of one of Baltimore’s most prominent figures.

“Clearly, from the released information, whatever or however the investigation was initiated, the end result was that there wasn’t anything to it,” said Alan Rifkin, who read the files at The Banner’s request and was a friend to Angelos and attorney for the Orioles.

The Angelos family sold the Orioles last year, and Peter Angelos died in March at the age of 94 after a long illness. A person’s FBI files are generally available after their death as a matter of public record.

President Donald Trump ordered the FBI last month to release all remaining records from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

In Baltimore, Angelos is remembered as larger than life, both a champion for steelworkers sickened by asbestos and a meddlesome baseball owner.

“Investigations decades ago that never resulted in any charges are of no legal significance and only confirm there is no basis for any charges,” said Daniel Petrocelli, an attorney for Georgia Angelos, the widow of Peter.

Fraud investigation

The FBI files are heavily redacted but suggest the first investigation, which traces to 1985, stemmed from a broader case into fraud against labor unions. The agents were investigating people, their names redacted, who were suspected of embezzling health, welfare and pension funds from unions in Baltimore and Virginia. That’s when agents came upon a little company called Medical Resource Management Inc., on Harford Road, in Northeast Baltimore.

Earlier in 1984, the company billed insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield $27,000, an amount equal to $84,000 today, for chest X-rays of union workers at the Bethlehem Steel mill in Sparrows Point. Blue Cross Blue Shield administered the workers’ benefit plan and paid the claims.

Medical Resource Management submitted a second round of claims, for $156,000, or nearly half a million dollars today. Blue Cross Blue Shield denied payment on these claims after an audit.

The insurer covered medical services but not screenings for asbestos. Bethlehem Steel had its own medical facility to conduct free asbestos screenings for workers. In the investigative files, agents described the X-rays by Medical Resource Management as thinly veiled asbestos screenings done without obtaining a patient’s medical history, without a physical exam and initially without the supervision of a doctor.

“It was alleged that MRM fraudulently submitted the insurance claim forms to make it appear as if the x-ray screening were actually covered diagnostic services,” agents wrote.

The files show that Angelos owned Medical Resource Management. He kept an office in the same building on Harford Road. Because some of the money paid to Medical Resource Management came from Medicare, agents were investigating the alleged scheme as potential fraud against the U.S. government.

In interviews, witnesses described the X-rays as a strategy by Angelos to solicit clients for asbestos lawsuits. They told agents he showed a film about asbestos at union meetings. Members were encouraged to visit Medical Resource Management for screenings.

Investigators subpoenaed the unions and executed a search warrant at the Harford Road office in January 1986. Agents also learned that Medical Resource Management was selling unions something it called a Cost Containment Program for medical insurance at the price of $2.50 per member per month. Three local unions in Baltimore were billed more than $200,000 per year for the program, agents wrote.

This program was suspected to be a sham, witnesses told investigators.

“It was alleged that MRM purposefully did not adequately staff the CCP Program and did not intend to perform the services offered in its solicitation,” FBI agents wrote.

The investigators interviewed members of the union pension board responsible for purchasing the program. These interviews, however, “did not present any indication of payoffs or kickbacks,” they wrote. “Generally, the trustees were satisfied with the operation of the CCP.”

The FBI’s findings were presented to assistant U.S. attorneys in Baltimore, who declined prosecution. An explanation of the decision was redacted.

The insurance fight between Medical Resource Management and Blue Cross Blue Shield ended up in civil court with dueling lawsuits filed in 1985. The 40-year-old case files were in storage at the Maryland State Archives and not immediately available.

Angelos courted criticism with his aggressive pursuit of asbestos clients. Attorneys for asbestos manufacturers accused him of wheeling portable X-ray machines into union meetings.

Still, he emerged as an underdog hero to the steelworkers for refusing to settle their claims. He took the manufacturers to court in the nation’s biggest-ever asbestos trial, over the years winning more than $1 billion for the workers.

Public corruption investigation

By the late 1990s, Angelos had built a reputation as an aggressive litigator who took on the toughest cases. He was celebrated for buying the Orioles and bringing back local ownership of the team.

State officials picked him to lead Maryland’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Big Tobacco, but a pretrial ruling threw a wrench in the case.

Angelos would potentially have to bring into court the thousands of people who suffered smoking-related diseases to testify. During the 1998 legislative session, state lawmakers wanted to help by amending the rules of evidence to allow the use of statistics about the effects of smoking. Angelos had millions of dollars in legal fees on the line.

Senate Republicans opposed the bill and were staging a filibuster. They fought off rounds of votes to end their filibuster until one tobacco-friendly lawmaker flipped, FBI agents wrote. The legislator’s name was redacted.

The voting record shows multiple senators changed their votes to end the filibuster, so the identity of the legislator in question remains unclear.

The FBI was investigating an allegation that Angelos had bought the vote with campaign donations made through his concessions companies at Camden Yards.

Months after the session, in July 1998, companies owned or controlled by Angelos donated to the election campaigns of the legislator. The Angelos companies included 1300 N. Charles LLC., W. York Limited Partnership, Camden Cotton Ball Co. and Chesapeake Bay Seafood Co., investigators wrote.

The amounts of these donations were redacted, too. These donations could not be located by The Banner in a search of campaign finance reports for the period.

It appears Angelos spoke to investigators. They wrote that he admitted to making a phone call and asking for help to end the filibuster, but he told them he did not promise anything in return.

At least two witnesses told investigators that Angelos routinely donated to the political campaigns of lawmakers based on their views, as remains common for prominent business owners.

Another witness told agents it was illogical for anyone to try to buy the vote.

“The Republicans were having a hard time finding the votes to continue to filibuster,” said the witness, whose name was redacted. “It made no sense for anyone to pay for the vote change because it was predictable that the filibuster would be broken.”

Assistant U.S. attorneys declined to continue the investigation and closed the case without charges.

The legislation passed, and Angelos won a $4.5 billion settlement from the tobacco companies. His cut was around $150 million.