Report: Phil Mickelson Under Investigation for Insider Trading

Golfer Phil Mickelson is reportedly under investigation for insider trading. 

The FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission are, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, “pursuing a major insider-trading probe involving finance, gambling and sports, examining the trading of investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas bettor William ‘Billy’ Walters.”

According to people briefed on the probe, the investigation centers around whether Mickelson, whose reported gambling exploits have been detailed, and Walters “traded illicitly on nonpublic information” from Icahn “about his investments in public companies”:

Investigators are examining whether over the past three years Mr. Icahn tipped Mr. Walters–famous in Las Vegas for his sports-betting acumen–about potentially market-moving investments by Mr. Icahn’s company.

The FBI and SEC are examining whether Mr. Walters on at least one occasion passed a tip on to Mr. Mickelson, these people said, and are studying the two men’s trading patterns.

A representative for Icahn denied knowledge of any investigation, and Mickelson’s lawyer said his client was not the “target of any investigation.”

But according to the Journal, “two FBI agents approached Mr. Mickelson on Thursday after he finished a round of golf at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, seeking to speak with him in connection with the investigation,” and Mickelson “referred them to his attorney.”

Mickelson reportedly golfs with Walters, a famous sports gambler, and Walters reportedly has suggested stocks for Mickelson to buy.