Phil Mickelson proclaimed his innocence after the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that he is part of an investigation of insider trading by the FBI and the SEC in a case that also involves investment trader Carl Icahn and Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters.
Mickelson was questioned by FBI agents after the second round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Lefty referred them to his lawyers.
“I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Mickelson said in a statement. “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 investigation, which is three years old, centers on suspicious trades in Clorox Co. made by Walters and Mickelson when Icahn was trying to gain access to the board of the consumer products company in 2011, the Times reported.
The story said FBI officials also approached Mickelson at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey about a year ago.
“Phil is not the target of any investigation,” Mickelson’s attorney Glenn Cohen said.
Icahn claimed he does not know Mickelson, but Lefty and Walters sometimes play golf together.
