Las Vegas gambler’s insider trading appeal rejected by US Supreme Court
FOX Business’ Kristina Partsinevelos reports on Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) who is expected to plead guilty on Tuesday on insider trading charges.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied former Las Vegas professional gambler William “Billy” Walters’ appeal of his five-year prison sentence related to an insider trading scheme.
Walters, 73, one of the most successful sports bettors in the U.S. who built an estimated $200 million fortune, asked judges to review a lower court’s rejection of his request to have the charges tossed because an FBI agent leaked grand jury details about the case to reporters, Reuters reported.
The former sports gambler who grew up poor in Kentucky, was accused of using nonpublic information from former Dean Foods co-Chairman Thomas Davis and Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants Inc. about company plans and projections about earnings. Walters banked more than $43 million in profits and dodged losses from 2008 to 2014 by trading the tips. He was also slapped with a $10 million fine, and ordered to turn over around $25 million in addition to his prison sentence.
Davis, meanwhile, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2017 for the insider trading scheme. He pleaded guilty to 12 criminal counts, including securities fraud, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and perjury, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Walters' request was rejected by a Manhattan federal judge who determined the leaks didn’t have any effect on the grand jury. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that Walters’ argument was “sheer speculation.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS