The world of professional golf isn’t exactly laden with stories of spice and intrigue. John Daly might have a few too many toots and Tiger can’t keep his one wood in his pants but, as a general rule, it is a sport without the same drama as many others.

It is rather big news then that respected pro Phil Mickelson, winner of five majors, is embroiled in a money laundering and gambling controversy. It appears that a large sum of Mickelson’s fortune was transferred to an intermediary who was part of an ‘illegal gambling operation’ that bet on sporting events. Here’s ESPN:

Mickelson…has not been charged with a crime and is not under federal investigation. But a 56-year-old former sports gambling handicapper, acting as a conduit for an offshore gambling operation, pleaded guilty last week to laundering approximately $2.75 million of money that two sources [said] belonged to Mickelson.

The man in question is Gregory Silveira, guilty of three separate cases of money laundering between 2010 and 2013. Court documents point to an unnamed gambling client, someone those in the know say is the 45-year-old golfer. Let’s dig deeper and see what those court documents have to say:

…in March 2010, Silveira — a participant in “an illegal gambling operation which accepted and placed bets on sporting events” — accepted a wire transfer of $2.75 million, which he knew was part of “illegal sports betting.” The money, according to the documents, came from a “gambling client” and had been transferred into Silveira’s Wells Fargo Bank account. Three days later, Silveira transferred $2.475 million and then $275,000 into another of his Wells Fargo accounts. The next day, Silveira transferred the $2.475 million to another account he controlled at JPMorgan Chase Bank.

The three transactions constitute the money laundering charges…

Mickelson has yet to publicly comment on the allegations and his personal attorney was also tight-lipped on the matter.

Somewhere out there Tiger is having a hearty chuckle, although he might want to spend more time working on his golf game after his pitiful showings of late.

[source:espn]