Phil Mickelson Allegedly Escaped Insider Trading, Money Laundering Investigations, Per New Book

According to a new excerpt of Billy Walters’s autobiography, Gambler: Secrets From a Life at Risk, Walters writes that Phil Mickelson not only escaped the insider trading investigations that ultimately put Walters in prison, but also a separate money-laundering probe that originated in the spring of 2010. 

In an excerpt released last week, Walters alleged that Mickelson bet more than $1 billion on sports and also attempted to wager on the 2012 Ryder Cup in which he would compete. Mickelson subsequently denied ever betting on the Ryder Cup in a statement to Sports Illustrated. 

In the follow-up excerpt, first published by The Fire Pit Collective, Walters alleged that Mickelson asked San Diego stockbroker Gregory Silveira to transfer “several million dollars” through his personal bank account to an offshore book to pay off Mickelson’s gambling debts. The move triggered a money-laundering investigation.

“In the spring of 2010, Mickelson asked Silveira if he would do him a favor. Mickelson wanted to transfer several million dollars to Silveira and then have Silveira wire it from his personal bank account to the offshore book to pay off Phil’s gambling losses. Unfortunately for Silveira, he said yes. The wire transfer quickly caught the attention of the criminal division of the IRS,” Walters wrote. 

At the same time, Mickelson was involved in the insider trading investigation surrounding Walters, who was eventually sentenced to five years in prison for utilizing nonpublic information about the Fortune 500 company Dean Foods.

Mickelson made $931,738.12 investing in Dean Foods, but in 2017 refused to testify that Walters did not disclose inside information. 

Mickelson had stated previously that Walters did not share insider information prior to the profitable trade, but Mickelson invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and ultimately did not take the stand on behalf of his friend.

“According to our mutual friend, here is the message he delivered to Phil: ‘This is Bill’s life at stake. This is his freedom. He could potentially go to prison for a long time. He would like you to just say the truth: That Bill never gave you inside information.’

“‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ Phil told him.

“‘Are you positive?’ our friend asked. ‘Because when you leave, I’m going to call Bill.’

“Phil reiterated that he would issue a statement.

“But he never did,” Walters wrote. 

In the midst of both investigations, Walters claims that Mickelson hired well-connected D.C. attorney Gregory Craig, who struck a deal with the SEC that ultimately cleared Mickelson’s name. 

In exchange for paying the total of his trading profits ($931,738.12 plus $105,291.69 interest) back to the SEC, Mickelson was named a “relief defendant” and was absolved of any wrongdoing. 

Walters writes that Mickelson’s attorney “performed a legal trick so improbable that it was like Harry Houdini pulling a rabbit out of a hat while in chains underwater.”

According to Walters, that maneuver allowed Mickelson to dodge the money-laundering investigation. 

“Phil’s attorneys issued a statement that made it look like Phil was an innocent victim of an insider-trading case that implicated me. And in the process, Phil was off the hook on the money-laundering case. The only person who ended up looking guilty was me,” Walters wrote.