Manhattan prosecutors have subpoenaed Yankee general manger Brian Cashman’s bank records—which sources say include evidence that he coughed up as much as $20,000 to accused extortionist and purported mistress Louise Meanwell as far back as April, The Post has learned.
Those alleged payments raise the question of whether Meanwell was shaking Cashman down for nearly 10 months — or whether the big bucks were legitimate gifts as part of an affair, as she claims.
Cashman made “several” cash deposits in the range of $4,000 each into the British-born woman’s bank accounts over the last 10 months, a source close to the case told The Post.
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Meanwell herself claims she received between $18,000 and $20,000 in the same time frame.
The records sought include handwritten deposit slips Cashman used to personally funnel money into Meanwell’s account.
“His handwriting is on those deposit slips, so there’s no way he can claim he wasn’t giving her this money,” said the source.
Meanwell’s bank records have also been subpoenaed.
Meanwell, 36, was busted Feb. 2 after what prosecutors said was “a long-term effort to manipulate and control” her target, identified by sources as Cashman.
Prosecutors charge that Meanwell demanded $15,000 for an unspecified medical procedure and ended up successfully extorting $6,000 from Cashman by threatening to go to family members and the media about their affair.
But a source said Cashman portrayed those payments as extortion because “he was trying to get back with his wife, so he had to discredit her and just dismiss her as a dangerous, crazy person.”
A Cashman spokesman and a lawyer for Meanwell declined comment, as did a spokeswoman for the Manhattan DA’s Office.
Criminal defense attorney Joseph Tacopina said if lawyers show that Cashman was involved in a consensual relationship with Meanwell and gave her Yankee tickets, a letter of recommendation and other perks at the same time the deposits were made, it would make it harder for a jury to find that the any of the payments were extortionate.
But frequent cash deposits could also bolster the DA’s case, said Gerald Shargel, who repped David Letterman extorter Joe Halderman.
“An extortionist could just be out there with his hand out again and again,” Shargel noted.
Neither Shargel nor Tacopina is involved in the Cashman case.
Additional reporting by Jose Martinez and Dan Mangan