Jack Abramoff$23.1M
NO WANTED POSTERPleaded guilty in 2006 and 2020; never a fugitive. No poster.
#80 OF 102
Jack Abramoff
COMPANY IN THIS CASE
SunCruz Casinos$21.7M▸CASE 104 · BRIBERYPLEADED GUILTY
Lobbying · 70 months · 2006 & 2025
$23.1M
WHAT WAS TAKEN
Restitution ordered in 2008 to the tribal and other clients defrauded in his lobbying schemes; the tribes had paid him and Michael Scanlon more than $66M in fees.
HOW
Billed tribal casinos for lobbying, split the fees secretly with Scanlon, worked both sides of their disputes and bribed public officials.
AT A GLANCE
Known as
Jack Abramoff
Born
1959 · Atlantic City
Status
Released Dec 3, 2010; on probation from Nov 2025
Court
US District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle); US District Court, Southern District of Florida (Judge Paul C. Huck); U…
Charges
D.C. (2006): conspiracy to commit honest-services fraud, mail and wire fraud and to corrupt public officials; honest-services mail fraud; tax evasi…
Plea
Guilty — 3 January 2006 (D.C.); 4 January 2006 (Florida); July 2020 (California)
Photo: Madeleine Ball, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Story
TAP TO READ FULL NARRATIVE — THE INVOICE (600 WORDS)
Sources: DOJ — guilty pleas 3 January 2006 (D.C.) and 4 January 2006 (Miami); sentencing 29 March 2006 (70 months) and 4 September 2008 (48 months concurrent, $23.1 million restitution) · SEC, 25 June 2020, and Bloomberg Law, 19 November 2025 (the AML Bitcoin case) · Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation record · WaPo/NYT contemporaneous coverage
· PROLOGUE ·
Jack Abramoff was, in the early 2000s, one of the most connected lobbyists in Washington. He had access. He had relationships on Capitol Hill. He had clients who paid him to use those relationships — Native American tribes operating casinos who needed favourable federal treatment, a variety of corporations and foreign governments. He billed them for work. Not all of it was done. Some of the fees were routed through nonprofit organisations as cover. The lobbying was real; the invoices were fraudulent.
PART ONE: THE SCHEME
Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP (which he left by resignation on 2 March 2004, as the Senate investigation began), billed tribal clients for lobbying services. Some of those services were performed. Some were billed but not delivered. The money flowed through a network of nonprofits — organisations that appeared to be legitimate policy or advocacy groups but served in part as conduits for Abramoff's financial arrangements. The nonprofit mechanism allowed fees to be moved without appearing as straightforward payments to lobbyists.
In parallel, Abramoff and his associate Michael Scanlon — who ran a public affairs firm — defrauded tribal clients by working on both sides of gaming disputes, collecting fees from competing tribes while representing conflicting interests. [SOURCE: DOJ plea agreement; Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation record]
PART TWO: THE PLEA AND COOPERATION
Abramoff pleaded guilty on 3 January 2006 in Washington to conspiracy, honest-services mail fraud and tax evasion, and on 4 January 2006 in Miami to conspiracy and wire fraud over a faked $23 million wire transfer used in the 2000 purchase of the SunCruz casino fleet. On 29 March 2006 Judge Paul Huck gave him 70 months for SunCruz. His cooperation with the Justice Department was extensive, and it helped convict Congressman Bob Ney (30 months), his partner Michael Scanlon (20 months), Interior official J. Steven Griles and a dozen others. On 4 September 2008 Judge Ellen Huvelle gave him 48 months in the Washington case, to run concurrently, and ordered $23.1 million in restitution. He left prison for a halfway house on 8 June 2010 and was released on 3 December 2010.
In June 2020 he was charged again, in San Francisco, over the AML Bitcoin offering — conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the first criminal charge ever brought under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. He pleaded guilty, testified against the company's chief executive, and on 18 November 2025 was sentenced to three years' probation and $2.2 million in restitution.
[SOURCE: DOJ, 4 September 2008; NPR, 29 March 2006; SEC, 25 June 2020; Bloomberg Law, 19 November 2025]
· EPILOGUE ·
The lobbying was real. The access was real. The invoices were not. $23.1 million ordered back to the clients. When the invoices came undone, so did a portion of Washington's lobbying apparatus around him. He cooperated. Others were convicted. Fourteen years later he pleaded guilty again. The invoice is the crime.
VERIFIED SOURCES
[1] DOJ — guilty pleas 3–4 January 2006; sentencing 29 March 2006 (S.D. Fla., 70 months) and 4 September 2008 (D.D.C., 48 months concurrent, $23,134,695 restitution); SEC and DOJ N.D. Cal., 25 June 2020; sentencing 18 November 2025 (probation).
[2] Senate Indian Affairs Committee — bipartisan investigation record (2004-2006).
[3] WaPo / NYT — contemporaneous investigation and trial coverage.
DO NOT MERGE: Case 101 (Manafort) — different fraud, different mechanism, same category label.
VERIFIED: 70 months and 48 months concurrent; halfway house 8 June 2010, released 3 December 2010. Convicted in the wider investigation: Bob Ney (30 months), Michael Scanlon (20 months), David Safavian (18 months), Kevin Ring (20 months), J. Steven Griles (10 months), Neil Volz and Tony Rudy (probation), among others. Greenberg Traurig's civil settlements are not in the public record used here.
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Bio
BIO
IDENTITY
NAME
Jack Allan Abramoff
BORN
1959 · Atlantic City
THE FIRMS
Greenberg Traurig (resigned Mar 2, 2004); Capitol Campaign Strategies (Scanlon)
THE JUDGES
Ellen Huvelle (D.D.C.); Paul Huck (S.D. Fla.); Richard Seeborg (N.D. Cal.)
THE COOPERATION
A congressman and a dozen others convicted
CASE RECORD
PLEADED
Jan 3–4, 2006 · Washington and Miami
SENTENCED
Mar 29, 2006 · 70 months; Sep 4, 2008 · 48 months concurrent
SECOND CASE
Charged Jun 25, 2020; probation Nov 18, 2025
STATUS
Released Dec 3, 2010; on probation from Nov 2025
KNOWN AS
Jack Abramoff
COURT
US District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle); US District Court, Southern District of Florida (Judge Paul C. Huck); US District Court, Northern District of California (Judge Richard Seeborg)
JUDGE
Ellen Segal Huvelle; Paul C. Huck; Richard Seeborg
CHARGES
D.C. (2006): conspiracy to commit honest-services fraud, mail and wire fraud and to corrupt public officials; honest-services mail fraud; tax evasion. Florida (2006): conspiracy and wire fraud over a faked $23 million wire in the SunCruz Casinos purchase. California (2020): conspiracy to commit wire fraud (AML Bitcoin) and the first criminal Lobbying Disclosure Act charge
PLEA
Guilty — 3 January 2006 (D.C.); 4 January 2006 (Florida); July 2020 (California)
COMPANY
Greenberg Traurig (resigned 2 March 2004); Capitol Campaign Strategies (Michael Scanlon); SunCruz Casinos; Capital Athletic Foundation; NAC Foundation / AML Bitcoin (2020 case)
People
THE ABRAMOFF NETWORK
THE PARTNERPLEADED 2005
Michael Scanlon
Capitol Campaign Strategies
Split the fees; 20 months.
SOURCE: DOJ
THE CONGRESSMANPLEADED 2006
Bob Ney
Ohio
30 months.
SOURCE: DOJ
Photo: US Congress, via Wikimedia Commons
THE OFFICIALCONVICTED
David Safavian
GSA
18 months.
SOURCE: DOJ
Photo: GSA, via Wikimedia Commons
THE BRIBERY SETCASE 042
Marcelo Odebrecht
Brazil
The corporate version.
SOURCE: Series
OPEN THEIR REPORT ▸OPEN REPORT ▸
Timeline
CASE TIMELINE
2000
SunCruz
The faked wire.
SOURCE: NPR
Mar 2, 2004
Resigns
Greenberg Traurig.
SOURCE: Roll Call
Jan 3, 2006
Plea
Washington.
SOURCE: DOJ
Sep 4, 2008
Sentenced
48 months; $23.1M.
SOURCE: DOJ
Nov 18, 2025
Again
Probation.
SOURCE: Bloomberg Law
Receipts
Pictures and video from the story. Every caption gives when, where and why; tap a name to open that person’s report.
1. Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles with Mississippi Choctaw chief Phillip Martin, tribal counsel C. Bryant Rogers and lobbyist Jack Abramoff at Main Interior
The access was real: Abramoff brought his tribal clients into the Secretary's office. Griles, the deputy secretary here, later served ten months for obstructing the Senate investigation into his dealings with Abramoff. The Choctaw were among the tribes billed tens of millions.
Photo: Tami Heilemann, US Department of the Interior · Wikimedia Commons / DPLA, Department of the Interior photo assignment 48-DPA-N 'Griles Abramoff', photographer Tami Heilemann, 5 February 2002
2. Abramoff at the witness table of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on lobbying practices involving Indian tribes, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment
Senator John McCain's committee opened its investigation after the Washington Post reported that Abramoff and Michael Scanlon had taken more than $66 million from six tribes. Abramoff refused to answer questions; the committee's June 2006 report, 'Gimme Five', documented the secret fee-splitting.
IN THIS PICTURE Jack Abramoff ▸
Video still: US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Wikimedia Commons, 'Abramoff SIAC 20040929 2', video capture from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee's archived webcast of the 29 September 2004 hearing
3. Representative Bob Ney of Ohio, official portrait from the 109th Congress pictorial directory
Ney took trips, meals and campaign money from Abramoff and inserted statements into the Congressional Record for the SunCruz purchase. He pleaded guilty in October 2006 and served 30 months, the only member of Congress convicted through Abramoff's cooperation.
IN THIS PICTURE Bob Ney
Photo: US Congress · Wikimedia Commons, 'Bob Ney Congressional Pictorial Directory portrait, 2005', Congressional Pictorial Directory, 109th Congress, p. 110
▶ WATCH4. Trailer for Alex Gibney's documentary 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money'
Made while Abramoff was still in prison, the film traces the SunCruz purchase with its faked $23 million wire, the tribal billing and the Scanlon partnership, and the money moving through nonprofits.
▶ Watch the video · Magnolia Pictures, 13 April 2010Video still: Magnolia Pictures · Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing, 'Casino Jack and the United States of Money Trailer', YouTube, 13 April 2010
▶ WATCH5. Abramoff's first television interview after prison, on CBS '60 Minutes', eleven months after his release
He left prison for a halfway house on 8 June 2010 and was released on 3 December 2010 after serving about three and a half years of the concurrent 70- and 48-month sentences. In the interview he described how he bought influence with jobs and trips for staffers.
IN THIS PICTURE Jack Abramoff ▸
▶ Watch the video · CBS News, 6 November 2011Video still: CBS News / 60 Minutes · CBS News, 'Abramoff's prison time: therapeutic?', 60 Minutes, YouTube, 6 November 2011
6. Abramoff on stage at 'In the Dock', a public conversation with Harvard's Lawrence Lessig about lobbying and corruption
Reinvented as a reform advocate after his release, he toured with a book and told audiences how the system he had gamed still worked. Nine years later he pleaded guilty again, in the AML Bitcoin case, and in November 2025 received probation.
IN THIS PICTURE Jack Abramoff ▸
Photo: Madeleine Ball via Wikimedia Commons · Wikimedia Commons, 'Jack Abramoff at In the Dock 2011' (Lessig/Abramoff 5), photo by Madeleine Ball, 6 December 2011
Operations
Where they were physically based, what they did in each place and when, and the methods they used. Tap a country or a method for its page.
THE MAP
Born in amber; operated from cyan. Tap a marker for the country page.
🇺🇸 United States — born here
METHODS IN THIS CASE: #44 Bribery / Corruption — Bribed public officials · #46 Invoice / Procurement Fraud — Billed tribes for work not done; secret kickbacks
WHAT THEY DID HERE: 2001–2004 — Lobbies for tribal casinos; secret fee split with Michael Scanlon; bribes to officials. · 3 Jan 2006 — Pleads guilty to conspiracy, honest-services fraud and tax evasion. · 4 Sep 2008 — 48 months concurrent; $23.1M restitution.
OPERATED FROM
Where they were physically based or worked. Tap a country for its page.
🇺🇸 Washington, D.C., United States ▸2001–2004Lobbies for tribal casinos; secret fee split with Michael Scanlon; bribes to officials.SOURCE: Senate Indian Affairs Committee
3 Jan 2006Pleads guilty to conspiracy, honest-services fraud and tax evasion.SOURCE: DOJ
4 Sep 200848 months concurrent; $23.1M restitution.SOURCE: DOJ
4 Jan 2006Pleads guilty over the SunCruz purchase; 70 months on 29 Mar 2006.SOURCE: NPR
25 Jun 2020Charged over AML Bitcoin and under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; probation 18 Nov 2025.SOURCE: SEC; Bloomberg Law
METHODS USED
Tap a method to see where it came from and everyone who used it.
Bribery / CorruptionBribed public officials ▸Invoice / Procurement FraudBilled tribes for work not done; secret kickbacks ▸Sources
SOURCES
[1] PRIMARY — US DOJ (Sep 4, 2008): 48 months, $23,134,695 restitution; S.D. Fla. sentence (Mar 29, 2006) via NPR
[2] PRIMARY — SEC release 2020-145 (Jun 25, 2020); Bloomberg Law (Nov 19, 2025)
[3] SECONDARY — Senate Indian Affairs Committee report (2006); Roll Call; Washington Post
More
KEY FACTS
JACK ABRAMOFF
THE INVOICE · LOBBYING · CASE 104 · BRIBERY · PLEADED GUILTY 2006 · 70 MONTHS · CONVICTED AGAIN 2020
RESTITUTION
$23.1M · to the defrauded clients · D.C., 2008
SUNCRUZ
$21.7M restitution · a faked $23M wire
THE FEES
$66M+ paid by the tribes (Senate)
SENTENCE
70 months (Fla.) + 48 concurrent (D.C.)
RELEASED
Dec 3, 2010
AGAIN
AML Bitcoin · probation Nov 18, 2025
CONVICTED ON GUILTY PLEAS in two courts in January 2006, and again in 2020. $23.1M is court-ordered restitution, not “fraudulent billing”. He resigned from Greenberg Traurig; he was not fired. The 2020 case was the first criminal charge under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
HOW IT WORKED
THE INVOICE — PRINCIPLE ONLY
01
The access: Real
02
The bill: For work not done, split in secret
03
The conduits: Nonprofits that moved the money
04
The favours: Trips and jobs for the people who decided
REAL ACCESS, FALSE BILLS
Sign the tribes
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Bill them
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Split with Scanlon
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Cooperate
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Plead again
WHAT THIS CASE ESTABLISHED
The access was real. The invoices were not. Fourteen years later, another plea.
Series link: Cases 042, 101.