Nearly $3 million transferred by Phil Mickelson to a middleman was part of an “illegal sports event betting operation,” according to two sources and court documents obtained by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
Mickelson, a five-time major winner and one of the richest and most popular players on the PGA Tour, has not been charged with any crime, nor is he under federal investigation. However, a 56-year-old former gambler named Gregory Silveira pleaded guilty last week to laundering approximately $2.75 million that two sources revealed to Outside the Lines belonged to Mickelson.
Silveira reached a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to three counts of laundering money from an unnamed client’s funds between February 2010 and February 2013. Sources close to the case said Mickelson, who was not identified in court documents, is the unnamed client. Silveira, who will hear his sentencing on October 5, faces up to 60 years in prison, although the sentence will likely be much shorter.
Mickelson could not be reached for comment. His longtime personal attorney, Glenn Cohen, declined to respond on the matter and clarified that another attorney, whom he did not name, was assisting Mickelson in this case. Neither Silveira nor his attorney could not be reached for comment.
Although the final plea agreement reached between Silveira and the U.S. Department of Justice does not disclose the identity of said “client,” an initial plea agreement signed last month by Silveira and his attorney, James D. Henderson Sr. contained a reference to “laundering money from P.M. funds.”
After “Outside the Lines” inquired about Mickelson’s potential role in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a motion that the agreement between the original parties be amended. An amended version was filed the next day, which appeared to remove any reference to “P.M.”
Last year, Mickelson made headlines when his name came up in a federal insider trading investigation, which also involved tycoon Carl Icahn and businessman and millionaire gambler Billy Walters.
At the time, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and New York Post reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspected that Mickelson and Walters may have conducted stock trades using confidential information obtained through Icahn.
These practices, which are prohibited in the United States, would have allowed them to anticipate important market movements and thus earn significant sums of money.
The investigation, according to the newspapers, began four years ago, following a multimillion-dollar bid Icahn made for the cleaning products company Clorox that sent the company’s stock soaring.
Mickelson and Walters’ dealings in Clorox securities at the time came to the attention of the authorities, who subsequently scrutinized other of their investments in which they believed they may have benefited from confidential information.
Mickelson, considered one of the best players in the history of golf, later assured in a statement that he had done nothing wrong and offered his cooperation to the authorities.
“I did absolutely nothing wrong,” Mickelson stated at the time. “I have cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue to do so. I would like to speak openly about the matter, but that is not possible under the current circumstances.”
Mickelson has earned more than $77 million during his three decades of play on the PGA Tour, not counting the money he has received from lucrative sponsorships from companies such as Callaway, Barclays, KPMG, Exxon Mobil, Rolex and Amgen, which collectively pay him more than $40 million a year, according to Forbes magazine.
The left-handed golfer is known for his affinity for sports betting, and three Las Vegas sources assured Outside the Lines that Mickelson is a regular there.
His connection with Silveira remains unclear.
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