Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire and other celebrities have been caught in a web of lawsuits seeking to reclaim more than $4 million won during unlicensed poker matches at upscale Beverly Hills hotels, court records show. The lawsuits were filed by a bankruptcy trustee attempting to recoup money for investors who were duped in a Ponzi scheme. The legal actions claim the clandestine Texas Hold 'em matches were played between 2006 and 2009, and that card players won hundreds of thousands of dollars from Bradley Ruderman, architect of the Ponzi scheme.
Maguire is being sued for $311,000 plus interest. Other players were Nick Cassavetes, the director of The Notebook ($73,000); billionaire businessman Alec Gores, who attempted to buy Miramax Films last year ($445,000); and Welcome Back Kotter star and poker afficionado Gabe Kaplan ($62,000). Ruderman was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of investment adviser fraud, and willful failure to file taxes. (More poker stories.)
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