Poker player Cory Zeidman has been charged with multiple crimes related to sports betting, the federal government alleged Wednesday.
A two-count indictment was disclosed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York for conspiracy against 61-year-old Zeidman to commit mail fraud, mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a “sports betting fraud scheme allegedly operated by From Long Island and Florida.
Zeidman was arrested Wednesday in Florida.
“Zedman allegedly defrauded his victims, stole their savings and convinced them to drain their retirement accounts to invest in his fake sports betting pool, all so he could spend it on international vacations, multi-million dollar accommodations and poker tournaments,” said US Attorney Bron Pace.
Zeidman allegedly conducted an operation that “placed national radio ads to lure victims into retaining the organization for sports betting advice.”
The Feds claimed that Zeidman convinced people that sports betting could be risk-free. It’s unclear how anyone could be fooled into thinking that sports betting is risk-free, but the feds reported that Zeidman told people he had “premium information.”
The government alleged that the alleged victims had paid a fee for sports betting advice.
The government said that “many victims lost their savings” while gambling on sports on Zeidman’s advice.
Allegedly, Zeidman was preying on individuals who were led to believe he had inside information that would lead them to easy money. In fact, he was selling nothing but lies and disinformation – saving millions of victims along the way, leaving their lives in ruins. My money and their bank accounts are empty.” HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.
Zeidman allegedly used a number of pseudonyms in the scheme, including Richard Barnes, Walter Barr, Mr. Carlisle, Ray Palmer, Rick Cash, Elliot Stern, Gordon Howard, David Coates, Simon Coates, Paul Knox, Mark Lewis, Joel Orenstein, and Steve Nash.
“Some of the names of the companies used by the defendant’s scheme are Gordon Howard Global, Ray Palmer Group and Grant Sports International,” the union said.
Federals require “any individual who believes they may be a victim of the alleged crimes” to contact authorities at 1-866-347-2423.
World Series of Poker winner Zeidman is perhaps the most famous in the poker world with the famous hand he played with poker legend Jennifer Harman in the 2005 main event.
