SCOTUSblog founder Goldstein could leave country, live comfortably, avoid capture, prosecutors say
Warning that U.S. Supreme Court litigator Tom Goldstein is a flight risk, federal prosecutors say his home was bought with tainted funds and should not be sold to finance his legal defense in a case alleging that he evaded taxes on millions of dollars in high-stakes poker winnings.
“Together with his ability to obtain high-value loans from wealthy individuals and experience with financial institutions abroad, the defendant has the ability to leave the country, live comfortably and avoid capture,” prosecutors wrote in a Sept. 12 court filing.
Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of Goldstein’s Washington, D.C., home if he is convicted of making false statements to a mortgage lender. Conditions of Goldstein’s pretrial release also require that Goldstein forfeit the home if he fails to appear in court.
Law360 covered the latest development in the case in Maryland federal court against Goldstein, a co-founder of SCOTUSblog. Goldstein was charged in January with tax evasion, aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, willful failure to pay taxes, and making false statements on mortgage loan applications. An Aug. 7 superseding indictment repeated the charges but added new allegations about misuse of his law firm trust account and attempts to influence his firm manager.
But for Goldstein’s false statements to a mortgage lender that omitted $15 million in private and federal tax debt, he would not have been able to keep the home safe from a litigation funder, prosecutors say. According to the superseding indictment against Goldstein, he entered into two agreements with a mortgage funder in which he effectively borrowed $1.6 million and $4 million. The money allowed him to pay off personal liabilities that had led to tax liens.
Goldstein “protests that he does not have sufficient funds to pay his lawyers, but he was able to borrow millions for his poker games,” prosecutors wrote.
Goldstein’s “ties to gamblers and individuals in other countries and his extensive international travel mean that he is better equipped than the average defendant to leave the United States to avoid the serious felony charges he faces here. This risk of flight may be higher now given that Defendant and his wife apparently intend to divorce.”
Goldstein owns the Washington, D.C., home with his wife, SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe.
Besides, prosecutors said, Goldstein has only $600,000 in equity in the home, which is far less than the amount that he will owe his attorneys.
Goldstein argues that his wife wants to sell the home to access her share of equity. He is seeking to substitute South Carolina properties owned by his father, stepmother and sister as collateral for his appearance bond.
Goldstein’s lawyers argue in an Aug. 29 court filing that his Washington, D.C., home was acquired independent of any illegal activity, and “the government’s argument to the contrary is based on a wildly speculative theory that (to the defense’s knowledge) has never been adopted by any court.”
But Goldstein “has only himself to blame,” the government said. “By intentionally failing to disclose millions of dollars in private debts to the mortgage lenders and apparently failing to alert his wife to that decision, he gambled that he would not get caught. That turned out to be a losing bet,” prosecutors said, quoting from an earlier court filing.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
