More New York ‘art dealer’ gambling sentences handed down
News on 1 May 2014
News on 1 May 2014
Yesterday’s sentencing of Anatoly Golubchik, a major figure in a massive online sportsbetting and poker gambling ring bust in New York last year (see previous report) was followed Wednesday by the sentencing of two other principals in the case, Manhattan art dealer and playboy Hillel Nahmad and professional poker player Vadim Trincher.
Once more Judge Jesse M. Furman underlined the serious nature of the offences by imposing heavier than expected prison sentences, handing out 5 years to Trincher, who has already agreed to forfeitures totalling $20 million. Trincher reportedly sobbed when his sentence was pronounced.
Nahmad, the 35-year-old son of a wealthy New York family, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, three years’ probation, 300 hours of community service, and will also have to undergo drug testing upon his release. Nahmad has also agreed to forfeit $6.5 million in ill-gotten gains.
His attempt to avoid prison by setting up an art appreciation charity for disadvantaged children did little to impress Judge Furman, who observed that allowing him to stay free and start the charity “would breed contempt for the law.”
Nahmad further displeased the judge when prosecutors produced a photo from the New York Post edition that came out shortly after his arrest that showed the defendant at a basketball game wearing a cap with a playing card on it, suggesting that Nahmad was taking his arrest lightly.
His lawyer tried to explain the faux pas away by saying he had taken his client to the game to cheer him up, and Nahmad had simply grabbed the nearest cap on his way to the game.
The prosecutors were relentless in showing by wiretap transcripts and other evidence that Nahmad was a ruthless principal in the illegal gambling case and not just a “rich kid who was being used” and had a penchant for gambling.
His integrity was challenged by prosecutors who pointed to millions of dollars in laundered funds from the illegal enterprise, and a fraud in which Nahmad knowingly tried to sell a piece of art worth less than $50,000 for $300,000.
29 defendants in the sensational Manhattan case, which involved celebrities, rich businessmen and organised crime figures, have so far negotiated guilty pleas with the authorities. 34 defendants were originally indicted on a slew of serious criminal offences.
