[Mider, Benny-Morrison, Miller] FBI seized Lakers owner Mark Walter’s phone and computer in federal probe
Zachary R. Mider, Ava Benny-Morrison, Myles Miller:
Federal agents seized the mobile phone and computer of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter last September in a wide-ranging probe into the financial dealings of the billionaire’s businesses, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 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.
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 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, Bloomberg News has reported.
An early focus of the inquiry was a deal TWG struck last year with Mubadala Capital, an arm of an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, according to people familiar with the matter. In April 2025 the companies announced Mubadala Capital would anchor a $10 billion syndicated investment in TWG. Prosecutors were looking into whether Mubadala Capital had been misled about valuations, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It’s unclear whether prosecutors are still pursuing that line of inquiry.