Goldstein Prosecutors Bring Receipts to Show His Luxury Spending

Prosecutors shored up some of their tax charges against Tom Goldstein Monday through the testimony of an FBI forensic accountant who detailed the high-profile lawyer’s spending from 2016 to 2022.

Although Goldstein previously admitted to much of that spending, Peter Flack’s testimony featured more comprehensive summary charts, receipts, and photos—including one of the St. Regis Bali Resort, where prosecutors say Goldstein spent around $25,000 to vacation in 2018.

Goldstein faces one count of tax evasion, eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, four counts of willful failure to pay taxes, and three counts of making a false statement on a loan application.

His seemingly frivolous spending when prosecutors say he owed significant tax debts primarily supports the government’s willful failure to pay charges. He could have paid the taxes when they were due, but chose not to, the government argues.

Flack also testified about transfers from Paul Phua, one of Goldstein’s former clients and sometimes financial baker in poker games, that made their way to US accounts through Goldstein’s foreign accounts. He didn’t and couldn’t speak to whether the transfers were properly documented for tax purposes.

He also testified about liabilities, including more than $14 million in gambling-related debt, that Goldstein allegedly owed when he applied for mortgages in 2021. Darran Anthony, an executive with NFM Lending affiliate Main Street Home Loans, also testified, confirming the debts weren’t disclosed.

Earlier in the day, Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby denied a defense motion alleging prosecutors willfully failed to produce notes from a recent meeting with accountant Walter Deyhle, a key government witness. At the meeting, the government confronted Deyhle with an email that contradicted his grand jury testimony and statements he’d made to prosecutors.

The defense wants the notes, but prosecutors say there are none to produce and deny that Deyhle made any additional statements that needed to be disclosed.

Griggsby said she wasn’t sure there was anything for the government to produce, but ruled without prejudice. The defense said it intends to submit further briefing on the issue.

Another Outside Accountant

Ian Shuman, an accountant with GRF CPAs & Advisors who served as an outside accountant for Goldstein’s law firm, was the third and last witness to take the stand Monday.

He testified about how he always had a difficult time gathering the information he needed to properly characterize the law firm’s transactions, and said he would have no way of knowing how to properly do so without Goldstein’s guidance, which was almost always relayed through Goldstein’s firm managers or assistants.

In a 2022 email, presented to him on the stand, Shuman said getting the information he needed was “like pulling teeth.”

He also explained that his job as an outsourced accountant wasn’t to conduct audits or to look for substantiating documentation. It wouldn’t have been appropriate for the firm’s outsourced accountant to also conduct an audit of its books and records, in any event, he said. An auditor should be independent from the accountant who’s keeping the books being audited.

On cross-examination, the defense launched into a line of questioning designed to attack the government’s investigation, namely around GRF’s alleged failure to preserve, collect, and produce all internal communications related to GRF’s work for Goldstein’s firm from 2017 to 2021.

Shuman will resume his testimony Tuesday. Prosecutors say they have one more witness to call after him.

Muger Tolles & Olson LLP represents Goldstein.

The case is United States v. Goldstein, D. Md., No. 8:25-cr-00006, trial held 2/9/26.