Exclusive | Prosecutors Focus on Four Businesses Tied to Dodgers Owner Mark Walter

Federal prosecutors digging into Mark Walter’s business empire are focused on four entities that served as intermediaries between insurance companies he controlled that made loans to businesses that he also controlled, according to people familiar with the matter.

Prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Walter, the chief executive of Guggenheim Partners who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and various other businesses, or his companies committed fraud by concealing financial connections while borrowing billions of dollars from insurers he controls.

The main entities investigators have narrowed in on, the people said, are ABS Capital, a Miami outfit founded by two former Guggenheim executives; Amistad Financial, an investment company that owns EquiTrust, a life insurer once controlled by Guggenheim and Walter; Bradford Allen, a Chicago-based commercial real-estate broker with long ties to Guggenheim; and Hudson Trading, another Chicago firm.

Proceeds from the loans made by the insurers passed through entities purportedly controlled by each of these firms before being used to fund other Walter-linked businesses, the people said.

Walter and his businesses haven’t been accused of any crimes.

“We have always acted in good faith, and insinuations that we have in any way attempted to circumvent our obligations is simply false,” a spokesman for TWG Global, Walter’s conglomerate, said in a statement. “We are proud of the business that we have built and the value we have created for our clients, investors and shareholders.”

Walter’s empire is now seeking to raise money, including by restructuring or selling off assets. Last weekend, an offer from Josh Kushner and Bob Iger led to him agreeing to sell the Los Angeles Lakers at a record $12.5 billion valuation, a rapid turn of events that came just one year after he bought the famed basketball team.

Prosecutors’ interest in Hudson Trading was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

The investigation comes as regulators are starting to take more interest in the opaque world of private credit, which took off after the financial crisis of 2008-09 and has become a rival to banks in extending loans to businesses.

A big chunk of the money fueling that industry is coming from life insurers such as the ones Walter owns.

Walter, 66 years old, built his fortune as one of the founders of bond manager and investment bank Guggenheim in 1999. He helped the firm engineer the purchase of several insurance companies hobbled by the financial crisis and get them into private credit. In time, those insurers began to finance a series of investments controlled by Walter and his partners.

He led the group that bought the Dodgers in 2012 and has since amassed a collection of sports assets and investments, alongside his insurance operations.

Walter’s insurers disclosed the investigations in June regulatory filings, and the companies have a plan to dispose of or restructure most of the Walter-related investments by the end of 2026.

Selling the Lakers freed up other assets and collateral that Walter had pledged to finance the team purchase last year, which might help the insurance remediation move more quickly, The Wall Street Journal reported. The surprise offer wasn’t part of the initial plan to become compliant with regulators, and the group continues to look for other fundraising options.