Poker Playing SCOTUS Lawyer Owes $3 MillionSupreme Court Attorney Tom Goldstein Surrenders Passport |
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Thomas Goldstein
In a motion filed with the court, Goldstein said that he doesn’t have enough money to put towards his own defense and that a U.S. magistrate judge was wrong in ruling that he did.
“Mr. Goldstein’s exceeding debt to his attorneys substantially exceeds the amounts in his checking accounts,’ the motion noted. “Moreover, the Pretrial Services Report makes clear that Mr. Goldstein does not have other assets for financing his defense in an enormous and complex case.”
Goldstein previously posted his Washington D.C. home as collateral for his release and the guarantee he would appear in court. A recent motion attempted to replace that home with others owned by family members, which was previously denied by the magistrate.
“Mr. Goldstein moves this Court to review his conditions of release and substitute alternate property to be posted as a condition of release,” the latest motion says. “He further moves to limit the scope of the government’s forfeiture allegations to permit him to use non-forfeitable property to hire counsel of choice.”
The motion detailed the requirements of Goldstein’s release, including surrendering his passport and limiting his travel to the metropolitan Washington D.C. area.
The four-and-a-half year investigation led to allegations that he was involved in high-stakes cash games in Beverly Hills, Asia, and other parts of the world and failed to report winnings on his tax returns. The initial indictment described Goldstein as “an ultra high-stakes poker player, frequently playing in matches or series of matches in the United States and abroad involving stakes totaling millions, and even tens of millions, of dollars.”
The indictment claims Goldstein concealed his wins and losses, and misrepresented expenses as he was loose with his cash. Other allegations include failing to pay $5.3 million in taxes for the years 2016 to 2021. Investigators say he won $13.8 million in Asia in 2016 and another $26.4 million against a California businessman in Beverly Hills.
In 2018, Goldstein allegedly played in high-stakes games in Macau and returned to the U.S. with a duffle bag with $1 million in cash. Authorities note he declared the money but failed to report the winnings on his tax return for that year.
Prosecutors further argue he improperly used legal fees paid to his Maryland law firm for high-stakes poker and to pay gambling debts. From 2016 to 2022, the indictment further says the 54-year-old lawyer was involved in “intimate relationships with at least a dozen women” and used funds from the firm to pay for expenses and travel related to those relationships. Some were also paid as employees despite performing “little or no work for the firm.”
Goldstein’s attorneys John Lauro and Christopher Kise have denied the charges against their client.
“Mr. Goldstein is a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation,” they told CNBC. “We are deeply disappointed that the government brought these charges in a rush to judgment without understanding all of the important facts. Our client intends to vigorously contest these charges and we expect he will be exonerated at trial.”
*Photo – Wikicommons via Legaleagle22
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