May 8, 2014

Defendant Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to Six Months in Prison and Six Month’s Home Confinement for Being a Leader of an International Multi-Million-Dollar Illegal Sports Gambling Business

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Illya Trincher was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to six months in prison followed by six months’ home confinement in connection with his leadership role in the operation of a high-stakes illegal sports gambling business. Trincher was also ordered to forfeit approximately $6.4 million. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at various proceedings in this case, including today’s sentencing:

Trincher and defendant Hillel Nahmad, a/k/a “Helly,” operated and led a nationwide illegal gambling business in New York City and Los Angeles that catered primarily to multi-millionaire and billionaire clients. As part of this business, the organization ran a high-stakes, illegal sportsbook that utilized several online gambling websites operating illegally in the United States. The organization booked bets that were often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and at times a million dollars, on a single sporting event. The organization also made millions of dollars of sports bets each year.

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Twenty-nine defendants in this case have pled guilty, and two have entered into deferred prosecution agreements. The defendants who have pled to date have agreed to forfeit, in total, more than $69,000,000. The following defendants have pled guilty and have been or await sentencing:

  • Bryan Zuriff pled guilty to gambling charges on July 26, 2013, and was sentenced on November 25, 2013.
  • William Barbalat pled guilty to gambling charges on August 14, 2013, and was sentenced on December 16, 2013.
  • Kirill Rapoport pled guilty to gambling charges on August 16, 2013, and was sentenced on December 19, 2014.
  • Edwin Ting and Justin Smith pled guilty to gambling charges on September 4, 2013, and were sentenced on January 21, 2014, and January 6, 2014, respectively.
  • Dmitry Druzhinsky and David Aaron pled guilty to gambling charges on October 4, 2013, and were sentenced on April 18, 2014, and February 14, 2014, respectively.
  • Alexander Zaverukha pled guilty to gambling charges on October 10, 2013, and was scheduled on May 1, 2014.
  • Nicholas Hirsch pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2013, and was sentenced on February 25, 2014.
  • Anatoly Shteyngrob pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on October 17, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2014.
  • Yugeshwar Rajkumar pled guilty to gambling charges on October 18, 2013, and was sentenced on March 25, 2014.
  • Stan Greenberg pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on October 22, 2013, and was sentenced on May 2, 2014.
  • Arthur Azen pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means on November 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
  • Hillel Nahmad pled guilty to gambling charges on November 12, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
  • Vadim Trincher pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 14, 2013, and was sentenced on April 30, 2014.
  • Eugene Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 14, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2014.
  • Anatoly Golubchik pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 15, 2013, and was sentenced on April 29, 2014.
  • Illya Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 15, 2013, and was sentenced on May 8, 2014.
  • Ronald Uy pled guilty to structuring financial transactions on November 25, 2013, and was sentenced on March 27, 2014.
  • Moshe Oratz pled guilty to gambling charges on December 3, 2013, and was sentenced on April 9, 2014.
  • Michael Sall pled guilty to interstate travel in aid of an unlawful activity (illegal gambling), and Jonathan Hirsch pled guilty to gambling charges on December 4, 2013. Sall was sentenced on April 18, 2014, and Hirsch is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2014.
  • Noah Siegel pled guilty to gambling charges on December 5, 2013, and was sentenced on April 10, 2014.
  • Molly Bloom pled guilty to gambling charges on December 12, 2013, and was be sentenced on May 2, 2014.
  • Alexander Katchaloff pled guilty to gambling charges on January 16, 2014, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 20, 2014.
  • Donald McCalmont, John Jarekci, a/k/a “John Hanson,” and Abraham Mosseri pled guilty to making a fraudulent tax statement, to failing to file a tax return, and to causing a financial institution to participate in a lottery related matter, respectively, on January 24, 2014. McCalmont was sentenced on May 7, 2014, and Jarekci and Mosseri are scheduled to be sentenced on May 28, 2014, and May 21, 2014, respectively.
  • William Edler and Peter Feldman entered into deferred prosecution agreements on April 11, 2014.
  • Illya Rozenfeld pled guilty to interstate travel in aid of an unlawful activity (illegal gambling) on May 6, 2014, and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 14, 2014.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harris M. Fischman, Joshua A. Naftalis, Peter J. Skinner, and Kristy J. Greenberg of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wilson of the Office’s Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case.