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Supreme Court Lawyer Indicted For Unreported Poker Winnings

Feds Allege High-Stakes Lawyer Failed To Report Millions

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Mystery Player at Hustler Casino LiveA top Supreme Court lawyer was indicted on Thursday in a Maryland federal court for tax evasion, falsifying tax returns, failing to pay taxes, and making false statements to two mortgage lenders in relation to high-stakes poker winnings.

Tom Goldstein has argued more than 40 cases before the court and is also the publisher of SCOTUSblog, which offers news and analysis of the country’s highest court.

Federal prosecutors allege he was involved in high-stakes cash games in Beverly Hills, Asia, and other parts of the world and failed to report those winnings on his tax returns.

The indictment describes 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.”

Reports now say that Goldstein was the mystery player known only as ‘Thomas’ in last year’s Hustler Casino Live million dollar cash game. During the game, he accidentally mucked the winning hand in a pot worth $540,000, and lost $1.1 million overall.

Details On The Case

The indictment alleges Goldstein concealed his wins and losses, and misrepresented expenses. 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 then won another $26.4 million against a California businessman in Beverly Hills.

Thomas GoldsteinIn 2018, Goldstein allegedly played high-stakes poker in Macau and returned to the U.S. with a duffel bag containing $1 million in cash. Authorities allege he declared the money but failed to report the winnings on his tax return for that year.

The government further argues that Goldstein improperly used legal fees paid to his Maryland law firm for his high-stakes poker games and to pay gambling debts. From 2016 to 2022, the indictment says the 54-year-old lawyer was involved in “intimate relationships with at least a dozen women” and used funds from his 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,” the indictment notes.

The government also believes that in 2021 Goldstein “submitted false mortgage applications to two separate mortgage lending companies, seeking financing to purchase a $2.6 million home in Washington, D.C.”

Denying The Allegations

Goldstein has represented Google, Oracle, and former Vice President Al Gore before the Supreme Court. He also taught at Harvard Law School, and was named of the 40 most influential lawyers of the decade by National Law Journal.

Goldstein’s attorneys John Lauro and Christopher Kise said the government doesn’t have all the facts in the case and denied the allegations.

“Mr. Goldstein is a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation,” the attorneys 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