Defendant Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to Five Months in Prison for Role in Gambling Ring

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Edwin Ting was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to five months in prison and ordered to forfeit $2 million for conducting an illegal gambling business. Ting was charged in April 2013 along with 33 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises in an indictment that included charges of racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses. 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:

From 2010 through 2013, Ting ran what was likely the largest and highest-stakes illegal poker game in New York City. At these games, the pots frequently reached tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars or more. Ting collected percentages of the pots, known as “rakes.” He made millions of dollars in profits from operating his illegal poker games. These poker games employed at least five or more people to assist with the operation of the games, payments of debts, and collection of debts.

In addition to the prison term and forfeiture, Ting, 42, of New York, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release.

Twenty-five defendants in this case have pled guilty. The defendants who have pled to date have agreed to forfeit, in total, more than $68,000,000. The following defendants have pled guilty and have been sentenced 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.
• Justin Smith pled guilty to gambling charges on September 4, 2013, and was sentenced on January 6, 2013.
• Dmitry Druzhinsky and David Aaron pled guilty to gambling charges on October 4, 2013.
• Alexander Zaverukha pled guilty to gambling charges on October 10, 2013.
• Nicholas Hirsch pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2013.
• Anatoly Shteyngrob pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on October 17, 2013.
• Yugeshwar Rajkumar pled guilty to gambling charges on October 18, 2013.
• Stan Greenberg pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on October 22, 2013.
• Arthur Azen pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means on November 5, 2013.
• Hillel Nahmad pled guilty to gambling charges on November 12, 2013.
• Vadim Trincher pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 14, 2013.
• Eugene Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 14, 2013.
• Anatoly Golubchik pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 15, 2013.
• Illya Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 15, 2013.
• Ronald Uy pled guilty to structuring financial transactions on November 25, 2013.
• Moshe Oratz pled guilty to gambling charges on December 3, 2013.
• 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.
• Noah Siegel pled guilty to gambling charges on December 5, 2013.
• Molly Bloom pled guilty to gambling charges on December 12, 2013.
• Alexander Katchaloff pled guilty to gambling charges on January 16, 2014.

The charges against the remaining eight defendants are merely accusations, and these defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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

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