One of the all time great WSOP Main Event clips. Still worth the watch
Here is the DOJ statement:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr...sports-bettingFormer Long Island Resident Indicted for Massive Fraud Scheme Involving Sports Betting
Defendant Led Group That Made Tens of Millions of Dollar Misleading Victims into Believing The Group Had Inside Information on College and Professional Sporting Events
A two-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Cory Zeidman with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a sports betting fraud scheme he operated from Long Island and Florida. The defendant was arrested this morning and Florida and will make his initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Miami.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ricky Patel, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York, Patrick Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department, and Daniel Brubaker, United States Postal Inspector in Charge, announced the charges.
“As alleged, Zeidman defrauded his victims, stole their life savings and persuaded them to drain their retirement accounts to invest in his bogus sports betting group, all so he could spend it on international vacations, a multi-million dollar residence and poker tournaments,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “Today’s indictment serves as a reminder to all of us to be wary of so-called investment opportunities that purport to have inside information, as they are really a gamble not worth taking.”
“As alleged, Zeidman preyed on individuals who were led to believe he had inside information that would lead them to easy money. In reality, he was selling nothing but lies and misinformation— bilking millions from victims along the way, leaving their lives in financial ruin and their bank accounts empty,” said HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “HSI will continue to work together with our partners to follow the money and tackle complex financial investigations to bring to justice fraudsters like Zeidman, who finance their lavish lifestyles by concocting ways to bamboozle the innocent when their only real goal is lining their pockets with ill-gotten cash.”
“Mr. Zeidman took advantage of the public’s interest to “get in on the ground floor” of his sports betting organization. He devised a criminal scheme to fatten his pockets using nothing more than people’s love for sports and his clever words wrapped around a fraud. Postal Inspectors remind investors to thoroughly review all investment offers to ensure they are not left with a line of empty promises and a drained bank account,” said Inspector in Charge Brubaker.
The defendant was the leader of an organization that placed national radio advertisements to lure victims to retain the organization for sports betting advice. The victims were led to believe that the organization had privileged information that made betting on sporting events a no risk proposition. Victims were required to pay a fee to obtain this information which, unbeknownst to them, was either fictitious or obtained from an internet search by defendant and his co-conspirators. Many victims lost their life savings.
The defendant used the following aliases: Richard Barnes, Walter Barr, Mr. Carlyle, Ray Palmer, Rick Cash, Elliot Stern, Gordon Howard, David Coates, Simon Coates, Paul Knox, Mark Lewis, Joel Orenstein and Steve Nash. Some of the company names used by defendant’s scheme were Gordon Howard Global, Ray Palmer Group and Grant Sports International.
Any individuals who believe they may have been the victim of the alleged crimes perpetrated in connection with this release can contact HSI at 1-866-347-2423.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Bagnuola, Charles P. Kelly and Diane Beckmann.
The Defendant:
CORY ZEIDMAN
Age: 61
Boca Raton, Florida
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 22-CR-228 (JS)
Here is the indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr...08241/download
I will post my thoughts later. In the meantime, here is an old tweet from 2017, complaining about players at the WSOP, among other things!
https://twitter.com/CoryZeidman/status/875430588911677442
I could be wrong but I thought I saw his name cashing in the $400 Deep Stack tournament just a couple of days ago at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida.
Did they arrest him like yesterday and fly him to New York? Was he indicted weeks ago and is out on bail? Or is he now in Federal custody?
Article says arrested Wednesday, which is today.Originally Posted by ReformDorm
So I read the indictment. This was a dumb scam which somehow went on for 16 years. I do not see any allegations that Zeidman did any bookmaking -- only that he ran a bullshit tout service.
He and his co-conspirators are accused of placing radio ads directing people to their sportsbetting advice service, and when people would call, they'd be told that many sporting matches are fixed, and their company has the advance results. People were charged hefty fees to get this "inside info", when in reality the matches weren't fixed, and Zeidman had no such info.
That's generally what happened. Also apparently some "inside info" was provided to customers, but it was just googled. LOL!
How did they get away with this for 16 years?
It is not clear to me how Zeidman's company handled it when people lost their asses with these bogus picks, despite the assurance that the matches were fixed.
About $25 million was earned by Zeidman and his companies during these 16 years (2004-2020). A bunch of bank account were seized, but they only seem to add up to roughly $1 million (I didn't calculate -- just eyeballed it). Some real estate was also seized.
It is likely that this scam is how Zeidman was able to afford to play poker at high stakes.
Not much different than claiming to have insider info as a stock tout, in theory. Not sure how the two compare legally. This scam worked for so long because the people he talked out of their money (he must be quite a talker) were acting on a base level of greed to begin with - there’s numerous red flags that should’ve gone up for all but the most ignorant/greediest of sports bettors - and that’s who he targeted. Had he just blindly given half his customers the dog and half the favorite, he retains half the customers and then has to talk his way back into good graces with those that lost on first play.
I’d think that like with other scams, even more so with this type of hustle, the victims were quite embarrassed and maybe had reasons not to disclose their involvement, leaving the cappers free to roam. The use of ad campaign was a good investment on his end. To many victims its something tangible that might’v supported the appearance of legitimacy, competency, and maybe even solid legal footing. Stud players pffft go figure
Does this mean that Corey Zeidman won't be at the World Series of Poker this year?
I don't think he's in custody, I just checked the FBOP website inmate locator. So either he was released on an unsecured bond or he paid a bond. I would guess though there are probably restrictions set by the prosecutor and Judge, most likely he is not to gamble in any capacity. So if that's the case he definitely won't be there. But maybe he got permission to be able to play poker claiming that's his profession. So the Judge could perhaps grant him permission to just play poker only, no other forms of gambling. However my guess is he won't be allowed because Cory could be using money earned by his scam.Does this mean that Corey Zeidman won't be at the World Series of Poker this year?
There's just about zero chance he will be at the WSOP.
If he's not in custody, I'm sure gambling has been disallowed, given that the entire case stems from something gambling-related. Also, presumably the aggrieved parties are going to want compensation, and the court isn't going to want him to gamble away whatever assets haven't been seized yet.
Oh, and I think they've probably seized everything of value, anyway.
How come he isn't already doing time for slow rolling with a straight flush?
https://twitter.com/twt/status/1864383670624375070
This clown was the reason I quit watching televised poker more than a decade ago after watch openly mock Phil Hellmuth for TV time. Huge life boost to cut that shit out.
PokerFraudAlert...will never censor your claims, even if they're against one of our sponsors. In addition to providing you an open forum report fraud within the poker community, we will also analyze your claims with a clear head an unbiased point of view. And, of course, the accused will always have the floor to defend themselves.-Dan Druff
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