Tobey Maguire sued over poker winnings (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A group of investors has sued "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire to recoup more than $300,000 they say a hedge fund manager embezzled from them and lost to the actor in high-stakes poker games.

The lawsuit stems from the criminal case against Bradley Ruderman, the chief executive of Beverly Hills-based Ruderman Capital Partners, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in January for an investor Ponzi scheme he ran from 2003 to 2009.

Ruderman pleaded guilty last August to wire fraud and investment adviser fraud, admitting that he embezzled millions of dollars of his clients' money to spend on lavish personal expenses, including $5.2 million he lost in clandestine poker.

According to the lawsuit, Ruderman was a regular player in a series of exclusive, and illegal, "Texas Hold'em" games held for celebrities and wealthy Hollywood business figures at various luxury hotels and private homes in L.A. and Beverly Hills.

Another participant in those games, the lawsuit says, was Maguire, who is alleged to have won more than $311,000 from Ruderman that the hedge fund manager siphoned from the investments of his clients.

The court-appointed trustee for former investors in Ruderman's fund claims in his suit that Maguire is not entitled to keep the winnings because the payments to him constituted "fraudulent transfers" of their money.

The suit, filed in federal bankruptcy court in Los Angeles in March, came to light on Wednesday after it was posted by celebrity news website Radaronline.com.

According to Radaronline, the invitation-only, no-limit clandestine poker games were held twice a week with a buy-in of $100,000, and Ruderman's gambling debts to Maguire included a single losing poker hand of $110,000 in July 2007.

Representatives for Maguire, who has starred in such films as "Seabiscuit" and "Cider House Rules," in addition to his title role in three "Spider-Man" movies, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The trustee and lawsuit's plaintiff, Howard Ehrenberg, told Reuters he has filed 15 such court actions in all in connection with Ruderman's gambling debts, seeking to recover a total of $5.2 million for investors.

Others being sued by Ehrenberg include film director Nick Cassavetes, "Welcome Back Kotter" TV star Gabe Kaplan and Paris Hilton's onetime sex video partner, Rick Salomon.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Tobey Maguire, others are sued over poker winnings (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 46 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – "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. In all, 22 people have been individually sued to try to recoup money.

Among them was Nick Cassavetes, director of "The Notebook." The trustee is attempting to recover nearly $73,000 plus interest from the actor-director.

His attorney, Ronald Richards, said Cassavetes engaged in no wrongdoing and may try to settle the case for a reduced amount or fight it on the basis that the money cannot be reclaimed.

The lawsuit cites only one 2007 game in which Cassavetes was involved.

He was sued along with others who received a check from Ruderman. However, the matches weren't documented, so it was unclear if Ruderman lost the money himself or was paying for another player, Richards said.

"The theory that is being advanced by the trustee is what we call a novel or original theory," he added.

Maguire's attorney, Robert Barta, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment but was expected to file a response to the suit later this week.

Also being sued is billionaire businessman Alec Gores, who along with his brother attempted to buy Miramax Films last year. Another defendant is "Welcome Back Kotter" star and poker afficianado Gabe Kaplan, who is being asked to return $62,000, records show.

Gores is being sued for $445,000. In a statement, his attorney Patricia Glaser noted the businessman had not been accused of wrongdoing and she wrote "there was nothing improper about the poker game that is the subject of this lawsuit."

"Mr. Gores will either successfully resolve the claim against him or successfully defend against the claim," Glaser wrote.

She also represents Kaplan, records show, but the statement made no mention of him or any other defendants.

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.

Richards, who also represents others who were sued over their poker winnings, said none of the players faced any criminal penalties.

"The statutes in California aren't designed to prosecute players for playing poker," he said, adding that the statute of limitations on any gambling charges would have expired or would soon expire.

Bankruptcy trustee Howard Ehrenberg filed the lawsuits in late March, attempting to recoup money on behalf of people who invested in what the legal action called a Ponzi scheme organized by Ruderman.

The suits contend the defendants have no right to keep money won from Ruderman, since the games did not have the appropriate government licenses.

Tournaments were held in luxury hotels in Beverly Hills and organized by a woman identified as Molly Bloom, who is being sued for nearly $475,000 paid to her by Ruderman, the lawsuits say.

Richards, who said he represented Bloom in the past, said she ran a catering and events business and simply received payments from Ruderman for her services.

In addition to trying to recoup money related to the poker games, Ehrenberg has also sued four of Ruderman's associates and relatives to try to reclaim more than $280,000 in gifts and loans.

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Associated Press Writers Thomas Watkins and Greg Risling in Los Angeles, and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/celebritydocket

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