After a six-week trial, once-prominent Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein was found guilty of 12 of 16 counts of tax and mortgage fraud.
These charges, which centered around his double life as a high-stakes poker player, include tax evasion, willful failure to timely pay taxes, and lying to mortgage lenders.
Goldstein, who had previously tried over 40 cases in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, was the co-founder of SCOTUSblog (along with legal journalist Amy Howe). SCOTUSblog remains one of the most widely respected and highly read independent sources of news and analysis about the U.S. Supreme Court.
Goldstein’s law expertise often crossed over into the poker world. He represented the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) after the Black Friday online poker shutdown in the United States in 2011. He also defended Malaysian businessman and nosebleed-stakes poker player Paul Phua in an illegal gambling ring case, where Phua was acquitted.
A mysterious double life
Tom Goldstein secretly traveled the world playing in super high-stakes cash games for millions of dollars with some of the biggest names in poker and Hollywood.
The trial revealed that Goldstein won around $50 million playing poker in 2016, including $22 million in Asia. American billionaire Alec Gores testified in court that he lost $26.4 million to Goldstein in heads-up matches that year. Goldstein also took on and won eight figures against a pair of foreign gamblers.
High-stakes poker legend Andrew Robl and poker pro Keith Gibson also testified during the trial, claiming to have coached Goldstein before the series of heads-up matches, which netted Goldstein the $50 million sum. Robl and Gibson were amongst several poker players who had a piece of Goldstein’s action, with Robl personally profiting $2.9 million. Heads-up expert Phil Galfond is also believed to be in that group.
Robl also claimed that Goldstein lost millions against him at Kevin Hart’s birthday party in Mykonos, Greece, and that Goldstein still owed him $1.5 million.
It was also found that Goldstein faced off against the aforementioned Beal in a series of heads-up matches, where Goldstein earned $51.4 million since 2022.
Amazingly, Goldstein admitted to being down over $10 million overall, citing his difficulty winning in full-ring games.
Among the additional revelations during the trial, Goldstein was hired and paid $500,000 by Spiderman star Tobey Maguire to recover a $7.8 million poker debt allegedly owed to him by billionaire banker Andy Beal.
Damning testimony
The prosecution claimed that Tom Goldstein attempted to hide his lavish lifestyle on his tax returns and mortgage applications. The money that came from his poker winnings and losses went unreported, which the prosecution claimed was deliberate. They accused Goldstein of being a reckless spender who reportedly purchased several luxury apartments, cars, and watches with unreported money.
Goldstein’s defense team claimed that the retired lawyer never intentionally cheated on his taxes, fully relying on his staff and tax accountants. When Goldstein took the stand, he admitted to downplaying gambling debts on mortgage applications, though he claimed he did so to hide his gambling losses from his wife.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Sean Beaty told jurors: “Not a single tax return signed by Mr. Goldstein under penalty of perjury is correct. Not one. There is no reason to believe Tom Goldstein. He lied to everyone around him.
“Mr. Goldstein is probably the smartest person in this courtroom. Smart people generally don’t document their tax evasion. They hide it in the tall grass. The crime here is the concealment.”
Charges and potential punishment
According to Bloomberg Law, Tom Goldstein was found guilty on one count of tax evasion, one count each of willful failure to timely pay taxes for four tax years, three counts of making a false statement on a loan application, and four out of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.
The jury will also have to decide whether he must relinquish his Washington, DC home, which was acquired while making a false statement to a lender.
Sentencing will take place in a few months. Goldstein faces up to five years in prison for tax evasion and up to 30 years in prison for the false mortgage statements. While Goldstein is highly unlikely to receive the maximum sentence, it’s highly expected that he will serve several years in prison.
