On this episode of Sources Tell Jeff Passan, Jeff is joined by financial fraud expert and whistleblower Tom Gober for a deep dive into the complicated financial web surrounding Dodgers owner Mark Walter, Guggenheim, and the insurance companies connected to the purchase and operation of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
How were insurance companies used to help finance the purchase of the Dodgers? Why do Mark Walter’s insurance companies own the Dodgers’ television contract? And how did a franchise that emerged from bankruptcy become a multibillion-dollar powerhouse?
Gober breaks down how potential financial-crime cases are built, when affiliated investments begin raising regulatory concerns, the role of the NAIC, and how reinsurance factors into the Dodgers’ financial structure. Plus, the red flag settlement from 2012, where the profits ultimately go, the biggest potential concern for Walter’s lawyers, and who could ultimately be held responsible.
TIMECODES:
0:00 Welcome to Sources Tell Jeff Passan
0:25 Dodgers Owner Mark Walter's Billion-Dollar Insurance Scandal
4:25 Tom Gober Joins Sources Tell Jeff Passan
5:35 How Mark Walter Used Insurance Companies To Buy The Dodgers
7:12 How Cases Are Built With Potential Financial Crimes
8:55 The Complicated Web Of Guggenheim's Holdings
11:03 When Affiliated Investments Become Problematic
12:45 Investment Threshold That Causes The NAIC To Start Asking Questions
16:36 How Does Something Like This Happen?
18:25 The Game-Changing Dodgers Television Contract
23:37 Why Do Mark Walter's Insurance Companies Own The Dodgers TV Contract?
26:30 How The Dodgers Went From Bankrupt To Billions
32:15 Wall Street's Stance On The Matter
36:30 What Is Reinsurance And How Does It Involve The Dodgers?
48:05 More Insight Into The Mark Walter-Dodgers Situation
50:05 Biggest Concern For Mark Walter’s Lawyer
52:25 Profits Go To The Dodgers And Their Owners
56:17 Who’s To Blame?
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