Philip Conneller
Former WPT champ Vadim Trincher
will do time for his role in coordinating a $100 million criminal operation.
(Image: WPT.com)
Former WPT winner Vadim
Trincher has been sentenced to five years in prison by a New York judge for his
role in organizing a wide-scale racketeering and money-laundering operation
with direct ties to the Russian Mob.
The 53-year-old sobbed in the
dock and apologized as the judge handed out the sentence, which was harsher
than the prescribed sentencing guidelines and the toughest so far in the case,
in which 34 defendants are being tried.
Anatoly Golubchik, accused with
Trincher of being the head of the US wing of the operation, was also given a
five-year jail term, while prominent art dealer and socialite Hillel “Helly”
Nahmad received one year for his role in the ring. Both Trincher and Golubchik
were also ordered to forfeit over $20 million each, over half of the $64
million in total forfeiture seized from defendants in the case.
Police Sting
The poker community was shocked
following the news in April 2013 that the NYPD had carried out a string of
raids that had resulted in the arrests of some of its own.
As well as Trincher, a handful
of well-known poker players were arrested in connection with the syndicate,
including Justin ‘BoostedJ’ Smith, Peter Feldman, Abe Mosseri, Edwin Ting and
WSOP bracelet winner Bill Edler. Smith, a small fry in the operation, was
sentenced earlier this year to two years of probation and 200 hours of
community service, while Ting received five months in prison. The others are
still awaiting sentencing.
$100 Million Operation
The court heard that bank
accounts and businesses controlled by Trincher, Golubchik and others “laundered
approximately $100 million in proceeds from their gambling operation in Russia
and Ukraine through shell companies and bank accounts in Cyprus,” as well as
through live and online sportsbooks that catered to Russian oligarchs. The
group also hosted high-stakes poker games, which were attended by many famous
poker players and sometimes by Hollywood celebrities, who were procured by the
well-connected Nahmad. The operation ran from 2006 until it was disrupted by
police in 2013.
Of the 34 defendants in the
case, the only one still at large is Alimzhan Tokhtakounov, allegedly a Russian
organized-crime boss who has been sought by US authorizes since the nineties.
Prosecutors alleged that Trincher and Golubchik reported directly to
Tokhtakounov.
In 2009, Vadim Trincher won the
WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic for $731,079, beating Amnon Filippi heads-up, but
long before his victory at Foxwoods, he was known in the poker world as a
high-rolling businessman who lived in a luxury $6 million apartment in Trump
Tower on Fifth Avenue. Vadim’s son, Illya Trincher, was a known player like his
dad, and he also stands trial, along with his brother Eugene, both facing
accusations of money-laundering.