Poker participant Gal Yifrach has been charged by US federal authorities with conducting an unlawful playing enterprise and cash laundering, in line with a newly unsealed indictment.
Gal Yifrach, seen above, is accused of laundering unlawful playing cash by way of a reputable on line casino in Bell Gardens, Calif. (Picture: The Jerusalem Put up)
The Israeli-born World Collection of Poker bracelet winner is alleged to have run an unlawful slots operation in his dwelling state of California with co-defendants Shalom Ifrah and Nick Shkolnik.
Yifrach is a model ambassador for Hustler On line casino Dwell and the Dwell Stream Poker Present, two standard dwell poker streams, and has appeared recurrently on Dwell on the Bike, the unique and best-known dwell poker stream.
Final 12 months, he misplaced a $300,000 pot taking part in $200-$400 no restrict maintain’em throughout a Hustler Dwell session.
Checks for Chips
Yifrach and his accomplices used a number of strategies to launder their ill-gotten positive factors, together with altering soiled cash for on line casino chips, in line with federal prosecutors. Investigators monitored Yifrach’s communications, intercepting messages he despatched to others concerned within the operation, the filings says.
These revealed that in 2018, he swapped simply over $200,000 in on line casino chips for checks from a gaming institution referred to within the indictment solely as “On line casino 1.” He then deposited the checks into his financial institution accounts and invested the cash in actual property, in line with the indictment.
On line casino 1 is described by prosecutors as being in Bell Gardens, Calif. The Bicycle On line casino, dwelling of Dwell on the Bike, is the one on line casino in Bell Gardens.
Final November, federal authorities fined the on line casino $500,000 for failing to observe anti-money laundering procedures. Nonetheless, the infractions detailed within the grievance towards “The Bike” dated from 2016, and are unrelated to the Yifrach case.
Different strategies employed by Yifrach to clean cash included handing over money to an affiliate, named within the grievance as “Particular person 6,” who would difficulty company checks for the equal sum from two unidentified corporations.
Amusingly, The Every day Beast has found by way of company information that till 2019, Yifrach owned an precise laundromat in San Diego.
Gushing Advertorials
Yifrach seems to have taken out adve-torials in a number of media retailers not too long ago, together with the Jerusalem Put up, L.A. Weekly, and the music and entertainment-focused Vents Journal. These gushingly extol his virtues and describe his “unbelievable journey to the highest.”
Vents describes his “sturdy qualities” that make him a “position mannequin and an inspiration for therefore many individuals.”
“What units Yifrach other than most individuals is that he has extremely excessive requirements not solely as a poker participant or an entrepreneur but additionally as a human being,” reads the advertorial. “He desires to encourage others to develop into one of the best variations of themselves and be beneficiant and humble.”
In convicted, he faces as much as 25 years in jail.
