Spiderman star, Toby Maguire has unwittingly become part of a major fraud investigation for participating in an illegal Hollywood poker ring. Whilst Maguire is the focus of the investigation at the moment he’s not the only A-list celebrity to be named in connection with the story; Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio were also reportedly involved in the poker ring.
The lawsuit was kept private for some time but it has recently become public as the fight continues to recover money that was paid out in winnings during the games. It turns out that the man running the poker ring, Beverly Hills hedge fund manager Brad Ruderman was actually using an elaborate Ponzi scheme to pay out the winnings of the games.
This is where Maguire becomes involved; reports are that he was paid out over $300,000 in winnings. But the problem for Maguire was that the funds used by Ruderman to pay him were embezzled investment funds. Ruderman is currently in prison until 2018 in Texas for wire fraud and two counts of investment adviser fraud, he was ordered to pay $27.5 million in restitution to investors after admitting fraud following an FBI investigation. It is hoped that the claim with Maguire can be settled out of court.
