Bookie comes clean
A bookie from Calabasas in California has confessed to money laundering, tax evasion, and operating an illegal gambling business
According to a press release from the US Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs, Jason Noah Feinman, 51, pleaded guilty on Tuesday.
illegal Costa Rica-based gambling firm
As a DOJ arm shared on X, Feinman admitted to laundering more than $1.5m via his illegal Costa Rica-based gambling firm and dodging taxes on his $4m income:
The DOJ stated that Feinman ran offshore websites hosting illegal gambling firms that allowed bettors, including those in California, to illegally place bets.
Central American hustle
Prosecutors allege Feinman laundered between $1.5m-$3.5m in cash for checks made out to him, in one instance giving a customer more than $1.5m cash in exchange for 18 checks for the equivalent amount between May 2018 and January 2024.
For four years up until 2022, Feinman also failed to file tax returns for his gambling business, or pay tax on the $4.1m income he made from it.
The Justice Department cited Feinman earning $1.8m in income for 2020 but that he didn’t report any taxable income and paid no tax for that year. Federal prosecutors claim Feinman caused a tax loss to the US of “no more than $1,524,528.”
maximum prison sentence of ten years for the gambling charge
The DOJ release said Feinman’s sentencing hearing is set for May 12, and that he faces a maximum prison sentence of ten years for the gambling charge, and “five years for the tax evasion and illegal gambling charges.”
Attempted hit
According to The Costa Rica Star, Feinman cut quite a swathe through the Central American country where he would travel “with bodyguards.”
While he won’t be booking tickets to Costa Rica in the foreseeable future, Feinman also won’t be at risk from hitmen on motorbikes. According to the Star, Feinman survived being shot 14 times in 2015 by two men on motorcycles while he was leaving a bakery in a suburb of the capital San José.
Feinman took eight days to recover after emerging from a two-day coma. News reports in 2015 stated Feinman worked in real estate and had no criminal record.
