 "Trump’s NASA nominee Jared Isaacman arrested for fraud in 2010, records reveal")
Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s choice for NASA administrator, was jailed on fraud charges in 2010 and sued in two states for writing $2 million in fraudulent checks to casinos, according to federal documents and court papers.
Isaacman is a millionaire pilot and astronaut who started the Shift4 Payments firm as a teenager and will lead the first private space crew in 2021 onboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
Isaacman’s nomination is up for a vote in the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
In a February 22, 2010 press release titled, “Nevada Fugitive Captured at Canadian Border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it arrested Isaacman on a warrant for alleged fraud at the Washington state line. He was taken to a county jail for extradition to Nevada, where Clark County, home to Las Vegas, had issued the felony warrant. No further detail on the alleged fraud was provided.
According to jail records, he was released the next day.
In a questionnaire in connection with his nomination to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Isaacman said he was returning from the Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, in February 2010 when he was detained by CBP for “drawing and passing checks without sufficient funds.”
He said the arrest stemmed from a dispute with the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas over a travel reimbursement the resort promised and failed to honor. Isaacman said he resolved the matter in less than 24 hours and the charges were dismissed. The court records were sealed, he said.
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More ShortsA spokesperson for the Palms Casino declined to comment. A spokesperson for Isaacman declined to comment.
“Jared Isaacman is exceptionally qualified to advance President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American leadership in space science, technology and exploration," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement. “We look forward to the Senate’s swift confirmation of him.”
Court records from New Jersey and Connecticut filed in 2009 and 2010, respectively, allege the New Jersey native failed to pay casino debts.
Civil cases were brought against him by Trump’s now-defunct Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, according to court documents.
The Trump Taj Mahal sued Isaacman in July 2009 in connection with a line of credit he got in November 2005. Isaacman wrote four checks in 2008 for a total of $1 million but his bank account did not have the funds for them to be cashed, according to the complaint.
The case was settled in 2011 for $650,000.
In a 2010 complaint filed in Connecticut, the Mohegan Sun said Isaacman had written four bad checks totalling $1 million. That action was eventually resolved and withdrawn, according to a court filing.
In a subsequent filing for his nomination, Isaacman disclosed four civil casino cases: the two described above, plus another from the Taj Mahal and one from the Trump Plaza, a source familiar with the matter said.
According to New Jersey court personnel, the other two cases, from 2008, could not immediately be retrieved.
In a written question submitted after his April 9 nomination hearing, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell asked Isaacman about being detained at the border and sued four times between 2008 and 2010 in connection with casino debts and allegations of fraudulent checks.
“In my early 20s, I was fortunate to experience business success at a young age, and I spent time in casinos as an immature hobby,” Isaacman answered. “The legal matters referenced were, in fact, forms of negotiation and were all resolved promptly. The incident at the border, following my return from the Olympics, stemmed from a payment issue that had already been resolved, which is why I was detained for only a few hours.”
Isaacman assured the committee that the behavior was in his past.
Still, while orbiting Earth in a SpaceX capsule in 2021, he placed the first sports bet in Las Vegas from space.
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