SCOTUSblog founder Goldstein had connection to cryptocurrency wallet hosting $100M in transfers, US alleges
Federal prosecutors cited alleged “ongoing criminal conduct” by indicted SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein in a court filing urging a federal judge to keep in place an order requiring monitoring of the former U.S. Supreme Court litigator’s electronic devices.
In a March 6 court filing, prosecutors said Goldstein has been using unhosted cryptocurrency wallets “for his financial shell game,” and prosecutors have evidence about two of them that were not previously disclosed to the court or pretrial services—including one that has hosted $100 million in cryptocurrency transfers.
He also allegedly failed to file personal tax returns in 2022 and 2023 and offered payments to a law firm manager who was a potential witness.
Law360, Newsweek and PokerNews (via How Appealing) have coverage.
Goldstein was indicted on tax evasion charges in January for allegedly hiding millions of dollars in income and cryptocurrency transactions on tax returns. He was also accused of using his boutique firm to help cover his debts and of making false statements to mortgage lenders.
The indictment was for alleged tax evasion between 2016 and 2022. But Goldstein also failed to report gambling winnings of more than $12 million in 2022 and more than $10 million in 2023, the government said.
PokerNews highlighted a government spreadsheet showing payments made by a single player to Goldstein over a two-year period beginning in May 2022. The intent was to show Goldstein’s 2023 gambling winnings, the article says. The payments reflect that the player had net losses of $51.4 million.
The use of cryptocurrency reinforces that Goldstein is a significant flight risk, and his failure to disclose it shows that the government should not trust him, the court filing said.
“In effect, defendant now asks the court to just trust him,” according to the filing. “But the indictment alleges defendant lied to the IRS, his accountants, his investors and multiple mortgage lenders—all of whom initially trusted him. … The court should not make the same mistake.”
The government alleged that Goldstein had connections to a previously undisclosed cryptocurrency wallet that has received and sent $100 million in cryptocurrency since its creation in 2022. Even if Goldstein does not own the wallet, the government said, his use of it shows his connection to people “who have controlled tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency” and may be living abroad.
He also allegedly used another previously undisclosed wallet in which a professional gambler transferred more than $242,000 to pay Goldstein for a poker loss. There is no indication that the money was meant for anyone else, the government said.
Prosecutors also alleged that Goldstein offered a departing firm manager a $10,000 bonus, student loan payments and cryptocurrency. The Goldstein & Russell manager was a potential witness, and the payments appeared to be an attempt to influence the person, prosecutors said.
Goldstein was arrested in February after federal prosecutors alleged that Goldstein violated the terms of his release by failing to disclose two unhosted cryptocurrency wallets through which he transferred millions of dollars in the currency. The government’s new filing cited his use of those wallets, as well as several others.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Goldstein’s release Feb. 13 after determining that Goldstein had plausibly denied that he owned the two wallets, which are not hosted at any exchanges.
Goldstein has conceded that he previously had access to the newly disclosed cryptocurrency wallets but said he does not currently control them, prosecutors said.
“These statements raise more questions than answers,” prosecutors said. Goldstein “has not explained how he lost control of those wallets, who now controls them, why they still contain large sums of cryptocurrency or what—aside from his own volition—prevents him from regaining control of them. Nor does his filing offer any evidence to corroborate his claims.”
In a March 10 filing, Goldstein said his alleged failure to disclose cryptocurrency to the IRS consisted of failing to check a box on his tax return. In addition, “the government’s attempts to make Mr. Goldstein’s prior use of cryptocurrency appear nefarious are highly misleading,” Goldstein’s filing said.
He also said the additional cryptocurrency wallets cited in the prosecution’s legal filing were known to the government at Goldstein’s initial court appearance. And the wallets have been inactive since December 2022 and since 2024. There is no allegation that Goldstein used the wallets while on pretrial release, Goldstein said.
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