FBI Links Poker to Russian Mob .

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The Wall Street Journal
FBI Links Poker to Russian Mob .

By REED ALBERGOTTI
Federal prosecutors charged nearly three dozen people Tuesday in connection with an alleged gambling and money-laundering ring that they said stretched from Moscow to Manhattan, reached inside a high-profile art gallery and organized underground poker for famous clientele.

An 84-page indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court said players at the high-stakes poker games included celebrities and "very wealthy individuals working in the financial industry," none of whom were named in the complaint. In all, 34 people were charged Tuesday with racketeering, extortion, money laundering and illegal gambling.

Federal agents remove items from an art gallery in the raid on Tuesday.
.Among those arrested was Vadim Trincher, who was still in bed at his Trump Tower apartment when FBI agents burst through the door, according to his wife, Elena Trincher. Prosecutors accused him of running an illegal poker and sports-gambling operation alongside a figure described in the indictment as a high-ranking mafia kingpin in Russia.

Ms. Trincher, interviewed outside court Tuesday, called the arrest of her husband "a misunderstanding." Mr. Trincher declined to comment. Mr. Trincher and the other defendants haven't entered pleas in the case.

At the same time as Mr. Trincher's arrest, the FBI said it staged a raid roughly 20 blocks north at the Helly Nahmad Gallery inside the Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Helly Nahmad, son of a billionaire art collector, was arrested in Los Angeles later Tuesday and faces similar charges at his arraignment, prosecutors said. A lawyer for Mr. Nahmad didn't respond to a request for comment. A woman who answered the phone at the gallery said it had no comment.

In the indictment, prosecutors accuse Messrs. Trincher and Nahmad of laundering money through bank accounts and shell companies in Cyprus, routing funds back and forth through Russia and into the U.S. The unnamed celebrities, athletes and financiers who patronized the alleged underground poker games run by the ring aren't accused of participating in the broader criminal enterprise.

Prosecutors told a judge during Tuesday's hearing that Mr. Trincher laundered as much as $50 million. They said the raid on his apartment uncovered $75,000 in cash and $2 million worth of poker chips from the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Trincher is a dual-citizen of the U.S. and Israel, and that he might flee the country with the poker chips, which they described as a money-laundering tool. He will remain in custody until a hearing Friday.

Ms. Trincher said her husband was innocent and made his money legitimately through his "genius" at poker. She said he barely knows Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, whom prosecutors described in the indictment as a high-up figure in organized crime in Russia. Prosecutors said they don't know Mr. Tokhtakhounov's whereabouts. It couldn't be determined whether he has an attorney.

In the hearing Tuesday, prosecutors said Mr. Trincher could be heard on months of wiretap recordings threatening gamblers who couldn't pay their debts with violence. He made reference to an enforcer named "Maxim," prosecutors alleged, who would collect money that was owed.

"Today's charges demonstrate the scope and reach of Russian organized crime," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos.

On Tuesday, the FBI said it is still looking for three fugitives who are charged in the indictment. Those being sought included Donald McCalmont, who is accused of laundering money through Titan P&H LLC, a plumbing company. The indictment said Titan was acquired as payment for a gambling debt. Prosecutors said Mr. McCalmont's whereabouts are unknown. It couldn't be determined whether he has an attorney or how he could be reached for comment. Emails to Titan P&H employees weren't immediately returned.
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