{"id":270518,"date":"2023-04-26T06:12:19","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T11:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=270518"},"modified":"2023-04-26T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T21:38:10","slug":"las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is ‘Danger to Community’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas lawyer accused of spearheading a $460 million Ponzi scheme<\/a> is a \u201cflight risk\u201d and a \u201cdanger to the community,\u201d according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew
Matthew Beasley, above, claims he paid up to $20 million to his bookie using investors\u2019 money. He also bought luxury items, including property, boats, and high-end vehicles. (Image: Wall Street Journal<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday, a federal judge agreed, reversing a magistrate judge\u2019s order to release Matthew Beasley<\/a>, 50, on bond ahead of his trial.<\/p>\n

\n

Beasley has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in relation to the sale of bogus interests in insurance tort settlements. He was arrested in March 2022 after an armed standoff at his home, during which federal agents shot and injured him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Beasley told around 600 investors that he had a litigation financing business. That office facilitated access to personal injury lawyers whose clients had settlements with insurance companies, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

He said the clients were prepared to pay a premium to get a portion of their settlement in advance rather than wait for insurance payouts. He told his victims they would receive a 12.5% return on their investment every 90 days, prosecutors claim.<\/p>\n

\u2018Scheme of Artifice\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

His claims were a \u201cscheme of artifice,\u201d according to the indictment. In reality, Beasley used money from new investors to \u201cpay interest on purportedly maturing investments owed to earlier investments.\u201d He also used the money to pay off his gambling debts and buy luxury items, including property, boats, and high-end vehicles.<\/p>\n

\n

When the FBI visited Beasley\u2019s Las Vegas home in March 2022 to question him about the alleged Ponzi scheme, the lawyer pointed a gun to his head before allegedly waving it at agents. That prompted them to open fire, wounding him in his chest and shoulder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Despite his injuries, Beasley refused to emerge from the property. During the ensuing standoff, he admitted guilt to an FBI negotiator, according to the SEC complaint.<\/p>\n

‘<\/strong>I\u2019m a Liar’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Monday, prosecutors said the incident showed he was a danger to himself and others, adding that he was \u201cunquestionably suicidal\u201d during the confrontation.<\/p>\n

He told the crisis negotiator that he wished the FBI agents \u2018would have killed me,\u2019 and that \u2018I need to get the balls to (expletive) pull this trigger,\u201d <\/strong>prosecutors wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prosecutors also cited a letter Beasley wrote to the FBI in which he refers to himself as a \u201cliar\u201d and a \u201chorrible human being.\u201d He also said he had paid between $15 million to $20 million to his bookie \u201cas a result of gambling debt and extortion\u201d and said he had been threatened by this individual, whose name is redacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized a couple of years ago I was too far in to ever recover,\u201d Beasley wrote in the undated letter. \u201cAt that point, I made a choice that I was going to give my family what I\u2019d always wanted them to have before it came to an end. Amazingly, I was able to have another two to three years treating them in a way I felt they deserved to be treated. I realize it was selfish, but I knew this day would come and they would lose more than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas lawyer accused of spearheading a $460 million Ponzi scheme is a \u201cflight risk\u201d and a \u201cdanger to the community,\u201d according to prosecutors. On Monday, a federal judge agreed, reversing a magistrate judge\u2019s order to release Matthew Beasley, 50, on bond ahead of his trial. Beasley has been charged with wire fraud and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":209428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[23,85673,86018],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-26T11:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-26T21:38:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-26T11:12:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-26T21:38:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":703,\"caption\":\"Matthew Beasley, above, claims he paid up to $20 million to his bookie using investors\u2019 money. He also bought luxury items including property, boats, and high-end vehicles. (Image: Wall Street Journal)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is ‘Danger to Community’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'","description":"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'","og_description":"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-04-26T11:12:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-26T21:38:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":703,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/","name":"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is 'Danger to Community'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-26T11:12:19+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-26T21:38:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Matthew Beasley, 50, will remain in prison ahead of his trial for wire fraud and money laundering related to $460 million Ponzi scheme.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/lawyer.jpg","width":1000,"height":703,"caption":"Matthew Beasley, above, claims he paid up to $20 million to his bookie using investors\u2019 money. He also bought luxury items including property, boats, and high-end vehicles. (Image: Wall Street Journal)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-ponzi-scheme-lawyer-is-danger-to-community\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Las Vegas Ponzi Scheme Lawyer is ‘Danger to Community’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270518"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}