Tobey Maguire poker game

June 22nd, 2011

Bradley Ruderman photo

Radar-online reports Tobey Maguire is one of more than 10 Hollywood A-list celebrities involved in a underground high stakes poker game. Brad Ruderman, who was being investigated by the FBI for embezzling investors money, lost more than 300k to Tobey Maguire. Now a trustee for the fund that he was embezzling from is suing Tobey for his losses in the game.

See Documents VS Tobey Maguire : Court documents for Toby Maguire

Some of the notable players include: billionaire businessman Alex Gores, Nick Cassavetes, Gabe Kaplan, Rick Salomon, Cody Leibel, Andrew Sasson, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It is alleged that Toby won a million a month over 3 years. The games were held bi-weekly at luxury Beverly Hills hotel, Four Seasons, and the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard.

The lawsuit claims Toby has no right to the winnings since the games were operated illegally and without permits. Toby plans on defending the frivolous lawsuit.

Here is the SEC report on Brad Ruderman:
On April 29, 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a court order halting a hedge fund fraud based in Beverly Hills, California. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges that Bradley L. Ruderman (”Ruderman”) raised at least $38 million from about twenty investors since at least 2002 through his two hedge funds, Ruderman Capital Partners and Ruderman Capital Partners A. The SEC alleges that Ruderman defrauded his hedge fund investors by misrepresenting to them the hedge funds’ investment returns and the assets under management.

Specifically, the SEC’s complaint alleges that Ruderman falsely told investors that the hedge funds had earned positive returns from 15% to 60% per year and had over $800 million in assets. In reality, the hedge funds lost money and had less than $650,000 in assets. The complaint further alleges that in 2009, Ruderman made at least one Ponzi-like payment, using new investor money to pay returns to an earlier investor, and that Ruderman falsely told prospective investors that Lowell Milken (chairman of the Milken Family Foundation and Michael Milken’s younger brother) and Larry Ellison (the CEO of Oracle Corporation) were investors in his hedge funds.

The Honorable Valerie Baker Fairbank, U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California, granted the SEC’s request for emergency relief, including an order temporarily enjoining Ruderman, his company Ruderman Capital Management (”RCM”), and the hedge funds from future violations of the antifraud provisions, freezing their assets, and prohibiting the destruction of documents. The Commission also seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and civil penalties against all defendants. A hearing on whether a preliminary injunction should be issued against the defendants and whether a permanent receiver should be appointed is scheduled for May 7, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. PDT.

Bradley Ruderman would claim Lowell Milken (the younger brother of Michael Milken) was a major investor in the funds. I did a series of articles on Michael Milken and his ties to the brick and mortar casinos. Perhaps the FBI and Nevada Gaming Board should investigate Milken and his ownership of casinos by proxy. See more here : Milken ties to casinos

TWO PLUS TWO thread on Michael Milken