Report: Mickelson Identified As Source of Laundered Money
June 30, 2015
Phil Mickelson the four-time major’s winner has been allegedly identified as a source of laundered money involving a gambling case.
Mickelson is alleged to have transferred over $2.75 million to Gregory Silveira a sports betting tout who had been acting as a go between for a gambling operation offshore and last week pleaded guilty to money laundering, according to a report on ESPN.
Silveira pled guilty to three charges of laundering money from a gambling client who was unnamed. The money laundering allegedly took place between 2010 and 2013. The only way the client was referred to was the initials P.M. in the plea agreement.
According to a pair of sources those two initials belong to Phil Mickelson
An amended plea deal had the initials removed at the request of the United States Attorney’s Office following inquiries about the possible involvement of Mickelson in the case.
Mickelson is not under any federal investigation or facing any type of charges in this matter noted the sources and the report by ESPN.
Silveira will be sentenced October 5 and faces up to 60 years behind bars, although it is not likely he will do anything close to that amount of time.
While documents from court vaguely refer to that $2.75 million as proceeds and say the money was part of a gambling operation that was illegal that accepted as well as placed bets on sports, it is unknown what it was really for.
Whether they were winnings or losses of Mickelson’s, funds to be put into an offshore account or just something else is not clear.
Mickelson has had the reputation of wagering on the golf course and sources have confirmed in Las Vegas that he bets on sports.
It was also reported that he was being investigated in 2014 by the SEC and the FBI for an alleged scheme involving insider trading that included Carl Icahn the billionaire activist investor and Billy Walters the notorious bettor on pro sports.
