Pro golfer Phil Mickelson will pay $931,000 to the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission after being named in an insider complaint unsealed Thursday, according to his attorney.
The payment matches the profits he allegedly received from non-public information concerning Dean Foods, whose chairman is indicted in the complaint.
Mickelson is named as a “relief defendant” in the case, meaning that he received illegally obtained profits but is not accused of any violations. Mickelson’s attorney, Gregory Craig, emphasized this portion of the complaint in a statement, saying, “Phil has no desire to benefit from any transaction that the SEC sees as questionable.”
The two defendants in the complaint are former Dean Foods chairman Thomas Davis and professional sports bettor Billy Walters, the latter of whom Mickelson allegedly owed money.
According to the SEC, Davis provided Walters with insider information about Dean Foods from 2008 to 2012. Walters then provided Mickelson with the information in July 2012. The day after the conversation, Mickelson bought $2.4 million in stocks from Dean Foods after only previously having approximately $250K in his portfolio. Mickelson then allegedly used the profits to repay his gambling debts to Walters, who made $17 million from the illicit trading.
Craig says that none of Mickelson’s sponsors have dropped their support in the wake of the complaint. The SEC can only file civil charges against Davis and Walters, meaning that neither defendants currently face jail time.