Billionaire Mark Walter had his cell phone and computer snatched by the FBI in the US last year, amid a federal criminal investigation into companies tied to his investment empire, months prior to signing on the line for a record $12.5bn to sell out-of-this-world The Los Angeles Lakers.
Agents, including Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials, even “took the cell phone of Dina DiLorenzo, president of Guggenheim Investments, on suspicion,” to one source from The Financial Times in September, as prosecutors scrutinise accounting practices and financial arrangements concerning companies under Walter’s control “beyond” insurance entities, and reaching to asset-management company Guggenheim Investments, where Walter is CEO.
No charges are currently understood to have been brought “as no wrongdoing by the suspects has been established”.
Mr. Walter is already understood to have agreed to put a buyout of The Lakers to the private investment company fronted by Josh Kushner. Walter also previously purchased a 27% stake in the organization in combination with another billionaire.
The Lakers reported sale proceeds of $ 12.5 billion, breaking all-time record prices in all NBA organisations globally. The probe also focuses on Walter insurance firms “which have previously recorded billions of dollars in investments of their connected enterprises”, according to an annual report.
