Famed accountant Eric Fulton — whose firm Connor McGregor represented — bet on a client of the firm through an illegal gambling ring he helped run, FBI says in larger investigation

A famous Los Angeles accountant whose firm boasted A-list clients including Conor McGregor, Chris Hemsworth and Channing Tatum has pleaded guilty in connection with an illegal gambling ring.

William “Eric” Fulton, the founder and managing partner of Fulton Management, pleaded guilty last week to one count of lying to federal agents about his role in laundering illegal proceeds from an illegal gambling operation.

The case came as part of an expanding federal investigation into illegal sports betting masterminded by former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix, who prosecutors say employed ex-MLB stars as “agents” taking bets across the country.

Last year, former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig pleaded not guilty to a charge of lying to federal agents investigating the Nix illegal gambling operation. Puig is due to stand trial in January.

Earlier this week, the Nevada stream cited a source as saying federal investigators had expanded the investigation to investigate possible links between Nix’s ring and employees of Las Vegas hotels and casinos, including the MGM Grand.

In the latest case, prosecutors say Fulton, 59, and his Encino-based company provided extensive bookkeeping and bookkeeping services to Nix’s gambling ring, and that Fulton used the illegal service to place sports bets on a customer of his own company.

The court documents allege that on November 12, 2016, Fulton received an account on Nix’s offshore Sand Island Sports betting site and placed “14 bets” on that same date, including three bets on a professional match from a client of The Company (Fulton Management). ‘.

The loading document does not mention the customer’s name. The betting date is the same as UFC 205, in which McGregor defeated then-champion Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden in the first-ever UFC fight in New York City.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a McGregor spokeswoman said he had never been a client of Fulton and that any relationship with Fulton Management was through a different partner.

“Eric Fulton is not representing Conor McGregor now and never has been,” the spokeswoman said. “He is represented by another partner in the office, who is separate from this case.”

McGregor attended the 2021 wedding of Fulton Management partner Matthew Gilbert-Hammerling, who has since changed his name to Matthew Gilbert-Aranoff, and posted a Instagram photo with the groom calling him a “good friend and trusted advisor.”

Neither Gilbert-Aranoff nor McGregor have been charged with any wrongdoing related to Nix’s gambling ring, and no Fulton Management clients are named in the indictment documents in connection with the scheme.

The US law firm in Los Angeles declined to comment on Fulton’s 2016 bets or reports that the Nix ring investigation has expanded to Las Vegas.

Fulton and Gilbert-Aranoff’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. The MGM Grand did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Whatever bets Fulton placed in November 2016, the bets became key to the case after he told Homeland Security Investigations and IRS agents that, according to prosecutors, he had never placed a bet online with Nix or Sand Island Sports.

And despite insisting that he believed Nix was simply offering concierge or consulting services, Fulton also referred at least one of his company’s clients to Nix for illegal gambling purposes, prosecutors said.

“During an October 2021 interview with federal law enforcement about Nix’s gambling activities, Fulton falsely denied all knowledge of Nix’s involvement in sports gambling,” says the U.S. Attorney General for the Central District of California said in a July 25 statement.

The statement added that Fulton “falsely claimed not to have known that Nix was a bookmaker until he learned that police had searched Nix’s house in February 2020, and repeatedly made the false claim that he never had a bet with Nix posted’.

Fulton admitted in his plea deal that he and his company provided bookkeeping, accounting and tax preparation services to Nix, who pleaded guilty to the scheme last year and awaits sentencing.

Between 2010 and 2020, Fulton charged Nix approximately $336,645 in professional fees for its financial services, according to court documents.

Fulton transferred money between accounts, issued checks and wire transfers to Nix’s gambling customers who won big bets, and helped Nix obtain bank loans to facilitate gambling operations, according to the plea deal.

Fulton also admitted that on three separate occasions he made personal loans to Nix totaling $1.25 million with no interest, allowing the gambling queen to pay out winning bets whenever he needed quick access to cash.

A sentencing hearing for Fulton is scheduled for November 29 and he faces up to five years in prison.

Nix, a former pitcher for Oakland Athletics farm teams, was charged last year running an illegal California major league sports betting operation that used other former pro athletes to make bets.

While sports betting is now legal in at least 30 states, it remains illegal in California. Illegal bookmakers also sometimes offer services that are prohibited at legitimate sportsbooks, such as extending credit to customers who are in the hole.

Nix, 45, started an illegal sports betting business in Los Angeles some 20 years ago after his six-year minor league career ended in 2001, prosecutors said in indictment documents.

His client list was created from contacts he made in the sports world and included current and former professional athletes. The agents he hired helped expand that clientele.

Court documents show that a professional football player paid Nix $245,000 for gambling losses in 2016. An MLB coach paid $4,000 in losses that same year. It has not been disclosed whether they bet on their own games or on their own sports.

MLB prohibits players from betting on baseball or illegally betting on sports. They can bet on other sports if it is legal. National Football League policy prohibits all personnel from betting on football games.

Nix pleaded guilty in April 2022 to conspiracy to run an illegal gambling operation and failing to report $1.4 million in revenue in 2017 and 2018.

He has agreed to pay back taxes and interest of $1.25 million and forfeit $1.3 million seized from bank accounts, and faces up to eight years in prison.

However, the hearing on Nix’s sentencing, originally scheduled for last July, has been repeatedly postponed and is currently scheduled for March 6, 2024.

Since he entered a plea, many documents related to his case have been submitted under seal, which could mean, among other things, that they relate to an ongoing investigation.