Sports betting whale Billy Walters charged with conspiracy, securities fraud

Renowned sports bettor Billy Walters has been charged with insider trading while pro golfer Phil Mickelson has agreed to forfeit nearly $1m in profits earned from his own shady trades.

On Thursday, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York accused Walters of using privileged information to execute trades between 2008 and 2014 involving Fortune 500 company Dean Foods. The trades allegedly netted Walters realized and unrealized gains of $32m while avoiding losses worth $11m.

The SDNY alleges that Walters (pictured, behind bars) was provided this insider info by Dean’s former chairman Thomas Davis, who pled guilty earlier this week to securities fraud and perjury charges and is cooperating with prosecutors. Walters allegedly provided Davis with capital for joint business ventures and nearly $1m in loans that Davis “largely did not repay.”

At the time of the loans, Davis was deeply in debt to credit card companies, the Internal Revenue Service, a $550k obligation to an investment fund he managed and a $100k ‘loan’ from a charitable organization he managed to cover a Las Vegas casino marker.