US insider trading investigation of Carl Icahn's attempt to buy Clorox in 2011 reportedly hamstrung by reports tying it and trades in Dean Foods to golfer Phil Mickelson and sports gambler William Walters

Nevin Barich

MANHATTAN, New York , June 3, 2014 (Bloomberg LP) – A U.S. insider trading investigation of Carl Icahn’s attempt to buy Clorox Co. in 2011 has been hamstrung by reports tying it and trades in Dean Foods Co. to golfer Phil Mickelson and sports gambler William Walters, a person familiar with the matter said.

Investigators are reviewing large option trades ahead of Icahn’s $10.2 billion offer for Clorox, as well as trading by Mickelson and Walters in Dean Foods in 2012, the person said. None of the three men has been accused of any wrongdoing.

News reports last week revealing the existence of the probe will hinder the ability of investigators to successfully use wiretaps, cooperating witnesses or consensual recordings, said the person, who requested anonymity because the inquiry is continuing.

Such tactics depend on secrecy and have been crucial for the Justice Department in obtaining 85 insider trading-related convictions over the past seven years, including those of Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Director Rajat Gupta.

“The publicity is going to make this a lot more difficult, if there ever was a case,” said Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in an interview.

The probe is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the person said.

Investigators are examining whether Icahn shared information on the Clorox takeover attempt with Walters, and whether Walters then shared it with Mickelson, the person said.
Icahn, 78, said in a telephone interview that he has “never given out inside information” and isn’t aware of the probe. He added that he “never purchased” or was “involved in any way with Dean Foods,” and that he never spoke to Mickelson.

“I have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Mickelson, 43, said in a statement, adding that he is cooperating with investigators. Mickelson told ABC News that he was approached by FBI agents while on a golf course. Walters told the Golf Channel that he’s not involved in insider trading.

In July 2011, Bloomberg News reported that options traders who bought Clorox calls on July 11 could profit almost eightfold just days after Icahn bid to buy the bleach maker.
More than 16,000 calls to buy the Oakland, California-based company changed hands on July 11, the most since October and 10 times the number of puts to sell, as the shares rose 2.8 percent. The most-active contracts were July $70 calls, which expired July 15, 2011. Those contracts rose as high as $4.73 from 10 cents the day before.

“I found it very interesting that the volume spiked Monday in options expiring today and then this morning you hear about a big deal being announced,” said Steve Sosnick, equity risk manager at Timber Hill LLC, at the time. “‘It struck me as very unusual that someone was buying these earlier in the week. It’s got that funny smell.”

James Margolin, a spokesman for Bharara, and Florence Harmon, a spokeswoman for the SEC, declined to comment.

--With assistance from Trish Regan in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net David E. Rovella, Patrick Oster

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