{"id":47278,"date":"2017-03-22T17:00:45","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T00:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=47278"},"modified":"2017-03-22T15:52:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T22:52:19","slug":"billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Walters Received Insider Information Via \u201cBat Phone,\u201d Jury Hears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former chairman of Dean Foods Thomas Davis told a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday that he regularly shared privileged insider information about the company with Vegas sports betting legend Billy Walters.<\/p>\n

\"Billy
Sports betting Billy Walters faces multiple charges of wire fraud and securities fraud.The alleged source of insider information, his former friend, Thomas Davis, testified against him this week. (Image: Alec Tabak\/New York Daily News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pair would communicate via specially designated prepaid cellphones which they called their \u201cbat phones,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Walters is on trial accused of profiting from illegal stock market trades on Dean Foods, a Dallas-based company and one of the largest processors of milk in the US.<\/p>\n

It is also alleged that Walters shared insider information, obtained from Davis, with his friends, including the golfer Phil Mickelson<\/a>, who is scheduled to be called as a witness for the defense.<\/p>\n

Innocent Meeting<\/b><\/h2>\n

Davis said that the relationship had started \u201cfairly innocently\u201d after the pair met at a California golf course in the mid-nineties. He was happy enough to offer the occasional stock market tip in the hope he\u2019d get some sports betting advice in return, he said<\/p>\n

But the nature of the relationship changed when Davis borrowed almost $1 million from Walters. After that, it \u201cgrew to a point where I was a virtual conduit\u201d for inside information, he said.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI became indebted to him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe became more demanding of information.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Davis said he offered Walter company secrets via the Bat Phone for over seven years, until 2014, including earnings information and upcoming pivotal transactions.<\/p>\n

He gave testimony this week as part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, after admitting charges including securities fraud and wire fraud.<\/p>\n

Walters Made $40 Million on Trades<\/b><\/h2>\n

Davis initially denied involvement when he was approached by federal agents in 2014. Authorities\u2019 suspicions had been aroused after it emerged Walters had made over $40 million on trades on Dean Foods over the years, including around $17 million between May 2012 and August 2012 alone.<\/p>\n

After their visit, Davis threw his bat phone into a creek, he said, but later decided to come clean after he suffered a stroke and realized the impact the investigation was having on his family and himself.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI used very poor judgment and I was scared to death that I had made some terrible mistakes and I wanted to cover it up,\u201d he said. \u201cI lied to everybody.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mickelson has not been charged with an offense, although he did return $1 million he earned in 2012 on one of Walters\u2019 trading tips.<\/p>\n

Walters pleads not guilty and his lawyer contends Davis is lying.<\/p>\n

The case continues.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former chairman of Dean Foods Thomas Davis told a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday that he regularly shared privileged insider information about the company with Vegas sports betting legend Billy Walters. The pair would communicate via specially designated prepaid cellphones which they called their \u201cbat phones,\u201d Davis said. Walters is on trial accused of profiting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":47279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBilly Walters Received Insider Information Via \u201cBat Phone,\u201d Jury Hears<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Billy Walters old friend, Thomas Davis, the alleged source of insider trading tips over 7 years, testified against the legendary Vegas gambler on Tuesday. \u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Billy Walters Received Insider Information Via \u201cBat Phone,\u201d Jury Hears\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Billy Walters old friend, Thomas Davis, the alleged source of insider trading tips over 7 years, testified against the legendary Vegas gambler on Tuesday. \u00a0 \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-23T00:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-22T22:52:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/plane.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/\",\"name\":\"Billy Walters Received Insider Information Via \u201cBat Phone,\u201d Jury Hears\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/plane.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-23T00:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-22T22:52:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Billy Walters old friend, Thomas Davis, the alleged source of insider trading tips over 7 years, testified against the legendary Vegas gambler on Tuesday. \u00a0 \u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/billy-walters-received-insider-information-via-bat-phone-jury-hears\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/plane.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/plane.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":499,\"caption\":\"Sports betting Billy Walters faces multiple charges of wire fraud and securities fraud.The alleged source of insider information, his former friend, Thomas Davis, testified against him this week. 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