Billionaire owner Mark Walter is trying his best to usher in a new era for the Lakers, but things are getting messy behind the scenes as details of an ongoing investigation come to light. If found guilty, the potential implications could be damning for both him and his teams (Lakers and Dodgers).
The latest intel, reported by Bloomberg, reveals that Walter had to give up his phone and laptop as part of the case to comply with a court-authorized warrant. The raid took place on the tarmac at Midway International Airport, marking a serious and notable step in the investigation.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out a search warrant aboard a private plane at a Chicago airport where Walter was traveling, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The FBI’s Chicago field office confirmed that it executed a court-authorized search for a mobile phone and laptop on an aircraft at Midway International Airport on Sept. 18 but declined to comment further.”
Walter is at the center of a scandal tied to a multi-agency probe. Suspicions were raised when an anonymous whistleblower began raising questions about the revenue for Walter’s firm, ‘Guggenheim Partners.’ The accusations suggest that Walter has been using his insurance company to funnel money back into his other businesses through the form of $16 billion in undisclosed loans. Investigators are also looking for evidence of fraud in Walter’s deal with Mudabala Capital.
“The people familiar with the search didn’t say where the devices are currently or what information was being sought, but seizing the electronics from a high-profile business leader like Walter is a significant investigative step. Probes by prosecutors can end without charges being brought.”
The phone was actually seized back in September in an attempt to look for evidence, and it’s unclear what they discovered, if anything. So far, no wrongdoing has been proven or reported, and there is no guarantee of a charge resulting from this. Even so, it’s a bad look for Walter, who now finds himself on the defensive in his first year as Lakers owner.
“The search warrant was one of several executed last September, according to other people with knowledge of the probe, who asked not to be identified discussing a confidential matter. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been investigating potential financial improprieties at two of Walter’s insurance companies and at Guggenheim Partners, the financial firm Walter leads.”
Success often runs from the top down in the NBA, and that’s why owner scandals can be especially brutal. We saw that first-hand with guys like Donald Sterling, Robert Sarver, and current Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon. For the Lakers, this is hardly how they wanted to usher in the post-LeBron era, but there is still hope that they can move on from this unscathed.
Unless the prosecutors can prove their case, Walter will escape any serious penalties, but the stain will linger for some time. He’d better hope, for the Lakers’ sake, that this situation finds a resolution quickly, or things could get ugly internally.
