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Press Release

Former Branch Manager At Manhattan Bank Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Assisting Leader Of International Sportsbook With Structuring Financial Transactions

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RONALD UY pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to assisting Illya Trincher, a leader of an international sportsbook with ties to Russian-American organized crime, with structuring financial transactions. Trincher previously pled guilty in Manhattan federal court in connection with his leadership role in the operation of a high-stakes illegal sports gambling business. UY was charged in April 2013 along with 33 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises in an indictment that included racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses. UY pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Ronald Uy consorted with Illya Trincher, a leader of a high-stakes gambling operation with ties to Russian-American organized crime, and broke the law when he aided Trincher in concealing the enterprise’s ill-gotten gains. But thanks to the efforts of law enforcement, Uy, like the 18 others before him, has admitted his guilt and now stands convicted.”

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at various proceedings in this case, including today’s guilty plea:

Trincher and co-defendant Hillel Nahmad ran a high-stakes illegal gambling business that catered primarily to millionaire and billionaire clients. Their business utilized several online gambling websites that operated illegally in the United States to generate tens of millions of dollars of sports bets each year. UY was a branch manager at a bank in Manhattan (the “Bank”). UY assisted Illya Trincher on several occasions in structuring deposits at the Bank so as to avoid triggering reporting requirements at the bank.

UY, 33, of Queens, New York, faces a maximum of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Furman on March 27, 2014, at 3:00 p.m.

UY is the 19th defendant in this case to plead guilty. The defendants who have pled to date have agreed to forfeit, in total, more than $66,000,000.00. The following defendants previously pled guilty and await sentencing:

  • Bryan Zuriff pled guilty to gambling charges on July 26, 2013;
  • William Barbalat pled guilty to gambling charges on August 14, 2013;
  • Kirill Rapoport pled guilty to gambling charges on August 16, 2013;
  • Edwin Ting and Justin Smith pled guilty to gambling charges on September 4, 2013;
  • Dmitry Druzhinsky and David Aaron pled guilty to gambling charges on October 4, 2013;
  • Alexander Zaverukha pled guilty to gambling charges on October 10, 2013;
  • Nicholas Hirsch pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on October 16, 2013;
  • Anatoly Shteyngrob pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on October 17, 2013;
  • Yugeshwar Rajkumar pled guilty to gambling charges on October 18, 2013;
  • Stan Greenberg pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on October 22, 2013;
  • Arthur Azen pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means on November 5, 2013;
  • Hillel Nahmad pled guilty to gambling charges on November 12, 2013;
  • Vadim Trincher pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 14, 2013;
  • Eugene Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 14, 2013;
  • Anatoly Golubchik pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering on November 15, 2013; and
  • Illya Trincher pled guilty to gambling charges on November 15, 2013.

The charges against the remaining defendants who have not pled guilty are merely accusations, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York City Police Department, and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harris M. Fischman, Joshua A. Naftalis, Peter Skinner, and Kristy J. Greenberg of the Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Wilson and Christine Magdo of the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit are responsible for the forfeiture aspects of the case.

U.S. v. Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, et al. Indictment

Updated May 18, 2015

Press Release Number: 13-368