Gambler says Phil Mickelson was involved in money-laundering investigation
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Phil Mickelson wound up settling the case without admitting or denying the allegations.
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NEW YORK – The author of a soon-to-be released book contends golfer Phil Mickelson laundered money through a stockbroker to pay his gambling debts but wound up escaping prosecution.
Author Billy Walters wrote in Gambler: Secrets From A Life At Risk that Mickelson turned to stockbroker Gregory Silveira to assist with the transfer. The excerpt was released on Thursday on Fire Pit Collective.
“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 (Internal Revenue Service),” Walters wrote.
But Walters, a sports bettor, wrote that Mickelson tapped into the powerful people he knew, including Washington attorney Gregory Craig. Craig had all the right connections and friends, including former United States attorney-general Loretta Lynch and the director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Walters went to prison in 2017 following a conviction on 10 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud related to “ill-gotten gains” trading Dean Foods stock. He shared insider information around some of those trades with Mickelson, who made multiple stock transactions that earned him US$931,000 (S$1.26 million) and was forced by the SEC to repay US$1 million.
“With Mickelson in the midst of a money-laundering investigation and a target of an insider-trading investigation, what did super lawyer Craig do to get the prosecutors off Phil’s back?
“He performed a legal trick so improbable that it was like Harry Houdini pulling a rabbit out of a hat while in chains underwater.”
Mickelson wound up settling the case without admitting or denying the allegations.
“Phil was off the hook on the money-laundering case,” Walters wrote. “The only person who ended up looking guilty was me.”
This is the second bombshell excerpt from the book, which will be released on Tuesday.
Last week, it was revealed that Walters wrote Mickelson, a six-time Major winner, had bet US$1 billion on sports over 30 years and that he wanted to place a US$400,000 bet on Tiger Woods at the Ryder Cup but was dissuaded from doing so.
Last week Mickelson, 53, denied placing bets on the outcome of the 2012 Ryder Cup but has yet to comment on the latest release. REUTERS
