Golfer Phil Mickelson allegedly had nearly $3 million of his money transferred to an intermediary as part of an illegal money laundering, gambling operation.
According to an ESPN Outside the Lines report, an ex-sports gambling handicapper, Gregory Silveira, was a conduit for an offshore gambling scheme and pleaded guilty last week to laundering roughly $2.75 million of money, belonging to an unnamed "gambling client," who was Mickelson.
It currently remains unclear exactly how Mickelson and Silveira are connected, but ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson explains that Mickelson hasn't faced any legal scrutiny because federal gambling laws are aimed at gambling organizations and not at individual bettors. The five-time major winner, who has piled up more than $77 million in earnings in over 30 years on the PGA Tour, declined to comment through his attorney.
Documents obtained by Outside the Lines show that money from Mickelson's account was transferred to Silveira's Wells Fargo Bank accounts in transactions of $2.475 million and $275,000. The next day, Silveira transferred the $2.475 million to another one of his accounts, this one at JPMorgan Chase Bank. The transactions are part of the money laundering charges.
"At the time, defendant initiated these three transfers with the intent to promote the carrying on of an illegal gambling operation," the plea agreement in the case stated, as reported by ESPN.
No surprise that the IRS's criminal investigation unit actually sparked this investigation, which eventually led to Silveira pleading guilty.
Silveira is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5 and faces up to 60 years in prison, although his sentence is predicted to be a lot less than that.
Mickelson was named in an ongoing federal insider trading investigation, involving billionaire Carl Icahn, last year. Outside the Lines also reports that Mickelson has won larger sums betting on sports events like the Super Bowl.
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