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Phil Mickelson (But Not His KPMG Blue Hat) Is Now Embroiled In a Possible Insider Trading Scandal

First the official news of a Rothstein Kass/KPMG merger hits when I'm wandering the wilderness of a Richmond Civil War POW camp on a workout last night and now this. Can you people just keep your scandals to regular work hours? YEESH.

We get this from the NYT tonight:

The divergent lives of a championship golfer, a high-rolling gambler and a billionaire investor have now collided in a federal insider trading investigation.

Federal authorities are examining a series of well-timed trades made by the golfer Phil Mickelson and the gambler William T. Walters, people briefed on the investigation said, focusing on trading in two different stocks. The authorities are also questioning what role, if any, the investor Carl C. Icahn may have had in sharing information about one of the stocks: the consumer products company Clorox.

No! Not Phil and his blue hat. They fight for kids and reading and stuff. This can't be, can it?

Mr. Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Masters golf tournament and one of the country’s highest-earning athletes, placed his Clorox trade in 2011, the people briefed on the investigation said. Mr. Walters, an owner of golf courses who is often considered the most successful sports bettor in the country, made a similar trade about that time, the people added.

Mr. Icahn, a 78-year-old billionaire and one of the best known investors in the world, was mounting a takeover bid for Clorox around the time that Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters placed their trades.

The F.B.I. and Securities and Exchange Commission, which are leading the inquiry along with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, are examining whether Mr. Icahn leaked details of his Clorox bid to Mr. Walters, the people briefed on the investigation said. One theory, the people said, is that Mr. Walters might have passed on that information to Mr. Mickelson.

Read the whole thing at NYT and we'll meet back here on Monday if and when we know more.

Think of the kids, Phil!