New book alleges Phil Mickelson's involvement in Dean Foods' $1,000,000+ scandal
Billy Walter's new book Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk about Phil Mickelson and his gambling habits has landed the golfer in a bit of hot water, bringing to light several allegations. More news has surfaced with respect to Mickelson's involvement in a previously unknown money laundering investigation.
One of the excerpts of the book reveals that Phil Mickelson spent over $1 billion in gambling over three decades while losing close to $100 million. In another incident, Mickelson needed to transfer a few million dollars to cover for one of his losses. Walters claims that Mickelson had Gregory Silveira put in a personal favor for him.
Speaking about it, Walters said via Golf Digest:
"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. "
With the wire transfer immediately being flagged, the feds were on Phil Mickelson's heels. During this time, one of his friends at KPMG introduced the golfer to lawyer Gregory Craig, who had previously worked as White House Counsel.
Craig managed to pull off a legal trick that allowed Mickelson to be relieved from the ongoing investigation and accusations of insider trading.
"On May 19, 2016 – nearly a year before my trial – the SEC issued a press release headlined “Pro Golfer Agrees to Repay Trading Profits.’’ The statement, which was related solely to the Dean Foods case, named Phil as a “relief defendant,” government-speak for people not accused of any wrongdoing but named in complaints for “purposes of recovering alleged ill-gotten gains in their possession from schemes perpetrated by others.”
Phil Mickelson avoids insider trading investigation after repaying Dean Foods stock
Phil Mickelson was to pay off the profit he made from the Dean Foods trade, and no mention was made of the money laundering investigation. Craig even released a statement, saying that Mickelson was an innocent bystander in 'the wrongdoings of others'.
“Mickelson neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the SEC’s complaint and agreed to pay full disgorgement of his trading profits totaling $931,738.12 plus interest of $105,291.69. It also noted that I had “urged” Mickelson to trade in Dean Foods stock and he later sold almost $1 million in profits to pay off part of his gambling debt to me."
Mickelson's release from the investigation was followed up with a statement from his lawyer. The statement issued put Mickelson in the clear while implicating Walters instead. In 2017, Walters was convicted in U.S. District Court for securities fraud, conspiracy, and wire fraud.