The feds are investigating whether golf legend Phil Mickelson, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Vegas gambling kingpin William “Billy” Walters took part in an insider-trading scheme, federal law-enforcement sources told The Post Friday.
The FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission suspect that Mickelson and Walters illegally traded on nonpublic information from Icahn about his investments in public companies — specifically his attempted takeover of Clorox, the sources said.
The two-year investigation was launched after Icahn made a $10 billion offer for Clorox in July 2011, causing the stock to skyrocket amid a rash of suspicious trading, according to sources with knowledge of the probe.
On Saturday morning, Mickelson released a statement saying, “I have done absolutely nothing wrong. I have cooperated with the government in this investigation and will continue to do so. I wish I could fully discuss this matter, but under the current circumstances, it’s just not possible.”
The feds and Manhattan federal prosecutors are examining Mickelson’s and Walters’ trading patterns to determine whether they profited by trading Clorox as its stock price spiked.
Investigators believe that Icahn, 78, may have passed potentially profitable information to Walters — who is well-known in Las Vegas for his big bets on sports — and that the gambler may have passed some tips along to Mickelson, federal sources told The Post.
Both Mickelson and Walters made similar trades in Clorox stock at about the same time, the sources said.
The investigators also examined phone records for Icahn and Walters, 67, to see whether the two men spoke shortly before the trades.
Icahn told The Post Friday night that he has never engaged in insider trading.
“We don’t know of any investigation. Further, we are always very careful to observe all legal requirements in all of our actions,” Icahn said. “I’m very proud of my record and I’ve never given out insider information. I’m very careful. That’s why I have an unblemished record.”
Icahn acknowledged that he knows Walters, but said he has never met Mickelson.
“While I’ve obviously heard of Phil Mickelson, I’ve never spoken to him or met him,” said Icahn, a Brooklyn native who grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens.
While I’ve obviously heard of Phil Mickelson, I’ve never spoken to him or met him.
- Carl Icahn
The Princeton grad, who is worth about $24 billion, started as a Wall Street stockbroker in 1961 and in the 1980s gained a reputation as a feared corporate raider.
Two FBI agents approached Mickelson, 43, on Thursday at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio — the day the golf star finished his round with two double-bogeys — to question him about the investigation, law-enforcement sources said.
The golfer referred them to his attorney, the sources said.
Mickelson’s lawyer, Glenn Cohen, told The Wall Street Journal, “Phil is not the target of any investigation. Period,” saying the FBI confirmed to him that the golfer was not a target.
Federal investigators stressed that no wrongdoing had been found, and no criminal charges have been filed.
“These three guys may not have done anything wrong,” a law-enforcement source told The Post.
Walters said, “I don’t have any comment about anything,” and hung up when reached by the Journal.
The Kentucky-raised Walters was a professional poker player who later switched to sports betting, winning up to $15 million a year betting on events at Vegas casinos.
Icahn, who once controlled several Nevada casinos, and Walters are friends who have spoken about stocks, and Walters and Mickelson sometimes play golf together.
Walters had also given Mickelson stock tips, sources confirmed.
Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion, has won 42 events on the PGA tour, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The golfer — nicknamed “Lefty” because he swings left-handed — long held a reputation for high-stakes betting but has said he quit gambling over a decade ago after his son was born.
Federal investigators also looked at trading patterns by Walters and Mickelson on Dean Foods stock, federal sources said.
The two men placed trades for the company’s stock in 2012 just before it announced a public offering of stock for a subsidiary — and now investigators are looking into whether Walters may have had a confidant at the company, the sources said.
Icahn told The Post he has never had any business dealings with Dean Foods.
The investigation is the latest probe in a multiyear crackdown on insider trading.
Prosecutors in Manhattan federal court have scored 85 convictions and guilty pleas out of 90 people charged since August 2009 — with no acquittals and five pending cases, the Journal said.
Knowledge of the investigation could explain Mickelson’s poor play at the Memorial Tournament Thursday.
He looked sharp for 15 holes. The golfer was at 5 under par after a birdie on the 15th hole, putting him just one shot out of the lead.
But he hit right into the water on the par-3 16th hole and did well to escape with only a bogey.
He came up short on the 17th and muffed two shots on his way to a double bogey and finished with another double bogey by three-putting the 18th.
“Just threw away a good round,” Mickelson said — the same day he was approached by the two FBI agents.