Trump’s nominee for Nasa administrator was once arrested, accused of passing bad cheques to casinos

NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump’s nominee for Nasa administrator, Mr Jared Isaacman, was arrested on fraud charges in 2010 and faced lawsuits in two states for writing US$2 million (S$2.63 million) in bad cheques to casinos, according to government records and court filings.

Mr Isaacman is a billionaire pilot and astronaut who founded the Shift4 Payments company as a teenager and commanded the first civilian space crew in 2021 aboard a SpaceX capsule.

His nomination is scheduled for a vote by the Senate Commerce Committee on April 30.

In a Feb 22, 2010 press release titled Nevada Fugitive Captured At Canadian Border, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it arrested Mr 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 (Nasa), Mr 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 cheques 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 honour. Mr Isaacman said he resolved the matter in less than 24 hours and the charges were dismissed. The court records were sealed, he said.

A spokesperson for the Palms Casino declined to comment. A spokesperson for Mr 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 that the New Jersey native failed to pay casino debts.

Civil cases were brought against him by Mr 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 Mr Isaacman in July 2009 in connection with a line of credit he got in November 2005. Mr Isaacman wrote four cheques in 2008 for a total of US$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 US$650,000.

In a 2010 complaint filed in Connecticut, the Mohegan Sun said Mr Isaacman had written four bad cheques totalling US$1 million. That action was eventually resolved and withdrawn, according to a court filing.

In a subsequent filing for his nomination, Mr 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.

The other two cases, from 2008, could not immediately be retrieved, according to New Jersey court personnel.

In a written question submitted after his April 9 nomination hearing, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell asked Mr Isaacman about being detained at the border and sued four times between 2008 and 2010 in connection with casino debts and allegations of fraudulent cheques.

“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,” Mr 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.”

Mr Isaacman assured the committee that the behaviour 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. REUTERS