LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Department of Justice announced Wednesday former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and five other defendants – including a suspected high-level member of an Israeli transnational organized crime group – were arrested on a federal indictment accusing them of running an illegal gambling operation in which high-stakes poker games were played at an Encino mansion Arenas owned.
Arenas, 43, also known as “Agent Zero,” of Woodland Hills, is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
Arenas has found recent media success with his YouTube channel Gil's Arena and his "No Chill" podcast host following his NBA career.
The other people charged in connection with the illegal gambling business are the following:
Yevgeni Gershman, 49, a.k.a. “Giora,” of Woodland Hills; a suspected organized crime figure from Israel;
Evgenni Tourevski, 48, a.k.a. “Eugene,” of Tarzana;
Allan Austria, 52, a.k.a. “Elica,” of West Hills;
Yarin Cohen, 27, a.k.a. “YC,” of Tarzana; and
Ievgen Krachun, 43, of Tarzana.
Each of these defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.
Arenas is accused of renting out an Encino mansion he owned for the purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games. According to the DOJ, at Arenas’ direction, Arthur Kats, 51, of West Hollywood, staged the mansion to host the games, found co-conspirators to host the games, and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.
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