NY Times: SEC "Has Escalated" Walters Investigation

Initially it was game on between Billy Walters and Phil Mickelson and the SEC on the subject of an insider trading investigation, then the role of Phil Mickelson was said to be "overstated."

Now the New York Times' Alexandra Stevenson and Matthew Goldstein mention the case in their look at the Securities Exchange Commission feeling under fire for not having caught many white collar criminals.

But in their latest story, the Times reporters are suggesting the Walters case has "escalated," but they do not specify if much has changed as it relates to Mickelson.

Elsewhere, the S.E.C.’s investigation into whether Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters possessed inside information about the plan by Dean Foods to announce a spinoff in August 2012 has escalated. The authorities suspect the tip about the spinoff came from a board member at the company who knows Mr. Walters, who then shared the information with Mr. Mickelson, the people briefed on the investigations said.

Mr. Walters’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Mickelson declined to comment. Representatives for Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters have previously said the men did nothing wrong.