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A California man pleaded guilty yesterday to operating an illegal gambling business, laundering money, and evading his taxes.
The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: Jason Noah Feinman of Calabasas operated a Costa Rica-based business that, among other things, ran a website that unlicensed and illegal gambling businesses used to facilitate their gambling activities by permitting their customers, including customers who lived in California, to place bets through websites the defendant maintained, which is illegal under state and federal law.
Feinman laundered the cash he derived from his business by exchanging the cash for checks made out to him or one of his businesses. For example, between May 2018 and Jan. 2024, Feinman gave one of his customers more than $1.5 million in cash and received in exchange 18 checks made payable to him or his businesses totaling that amount. Overall, Feinman exchanged between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in cash for checks.
In addition, between 2018 and 2022, Feinman knew that he had to report his illegal gambling business on his tax returns and pay tax on the income he earned from it, but did not do so. He instead concealed up to $4,198,136 of income from the government. In fact, despite earning $1.8 million in income in 2020, Feinman reported no taxable income on his tax return and paid no tax for the year.
In total, Feinman caused a tax loss to the United States of no more than $1,524,528.
Feinman is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the money laundering charge and five years in prison for the tax evasion and illegal gambling charges. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division made the announcement.
IRS Criminal Investigation’s International Tax and Financial Crimes group and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys John C. Gerardi and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section are prosecuting the case.
