NY’s Carlyle Hotel Raided in High Stakes Poker Probe With Mafia, Art Ties

A section of New York’s ritzy Carlyle Hotel was raided on early Tuesday in connection to an international multi-billion dollar gambling investigation with alleged ties to the Russian Mafia.

An indictment unveiled Tuesday claims that the money laundering scheme was carried out under the direction of a Russian organized crime group that involved the likes of Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and Wall Street financiers. 

30 individuals were charged including a Russian man who attempted to rig the Winter Olympic skating competitions. 

Police carried out Tuesday’s raid on the Helly Nahmad gallery, located inside the Carlyle Hotel.   Gallery owner, Hillel Nahmad, was among those charged.  The Nahmad family is well known within the high end art world with total wealth valued at around $3 billion.

The gambling ring was reportedly financed by Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who is described by prosecutors as a “made member” of a Russian organized-crime gang  known as the Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization.”  The indictment alleges that Tokhtakhounov acted as a "protector" for the group. 

In addition to the high stakes poker games, the group operated a massive sports betting ring out of the Ukraine and Russia with the indictment claiming that funds were laundered in the US via bank accounts located in Cyprus. 

The US Government is attempting to seize two Miami estates and an apartment in New York’s opulent Trump Tower.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher