Former NBA star charged with running illegal California poker game

LOS ANGELES (CN) — The organizers of a high-stakes, illegal poker operation in Los Angeles needed tables, players and women.

It didn’t take long to organize, federal prosecutors detailed in an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Authorities say former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, 43, of Woodland Hills, worked with others, including a suspected high-ranking member of an Israeli crime group, to set the games in motion in 2021 and 2022 at an Encino, California, home.

At his arraignment Wednesday afternoon, Arenas pleaded not guilty to the charges and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian released the former basketball player on $50,000 bond.

The trial is scheduled for Sept. 23 in Los Angeles federal court, with Trump appointee U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi presiding over the case.

Text messages revealed in the Wednesday indictment — the day most defendants were arrested — show the progression of the game. They needed tables and dealers for the illegal pot limit Omaha games. One person asked a woman if she’d consider prostituting herself.

Arenas, who played for the Washington Wizards and others in his career, faces one count each of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, operating an illegal gambling business and making false statements to federal investigators, prosecutors said.

Yevgeni Gershman, 49, an Israeli citizen living in Woodland Hills; Arthur Kats, 51, of West Hollywood; Allan Austria, 52, of West Hills; Evgenni Tourevski, 48; Yarin Cohen, 27; and Ievgen Krachun, 43, all of Tarzana, each face one count each of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business, authorities said.

Authorities arrested all the defendants on Wednesday, except Kats, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said.

Additionally, Gershman and Valentina Cojocari, 35, of Woodland Hills, each face one count each of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud and making a false statement on an immigration document, grand jurors found.

The illegal gambling business lasted from September 2021 to July 2022, prosecutors said.

“Arenas rented out an Encino mansion he owned for the purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “At Arenas’ direction, [Kats] staged the mansion to host the games, found co-conspirators to host the games and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf.”

The texts between Arenas and Kats about the games reportedly started in September 2021. Prosecutors said Kats obtained tables and chairs for poker, and Arenas learned that someone was prepared to host a game in January 2022.

In February 2022, Gershman reportedly invited women via text to the game. Using coded language in a May 2022 text, he asked a woman if she’d prostitute herself at one of the games, according to prosecutors. In another purported text, he told a woman he charged 25% to 35% of her earnings to work the game.

Texts between the defendants that prosecutors cited included discussions about tips owed to women who worked the games, as well as information about the “rake” — the money the host takes from each poker round, grand jurors found.

The grand jury also found that texts showed the defendants talking about hiring armed security for some games.

On July 19 and 20, 2022, a game occurred with some 26 players and around a dozen staff. That night, Homeland Security Investigations seized money from the home’s master bedroom. Arenas later told authorities that he wasn’t involved in illegal gambling, prosecutors said.

Seemingly unrelated to the poker game are the marriage fraud accusations against Gershman and Cojocari.

Authorities said Gershman conspired with Cojocari to have a sham marriage, enabling him to gain permanent legal status here.

“Both Gershman and Cojocari submitted false information on their U.S. immigration forms, including Gershman’s answers of ‘no’ as to whether he had ever been detained by any law enforcement official and as to whether he intended to engage in illegal gambling or any other form of commercialized vice,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.