In the United States and professional poker player Cory Zeidman (pictured) has reportedly been arrested on charges relating to an illicit sportsbetting scheme federal prosecutors are contending bilked victims out of more than $25 million.

According to a report from ESPN.com, the 61-year-old winner of a bracelet at the 2012 edition of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament was detained yesterday after the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York unsealed a two-count indictment alleging mail fraud and money laundering. The source explained that this action contends Zeidman and a number of unnamed co-conspirators ran a ruse from 2004 to 2020 that claimed to hold privileged information to make wagering on a range of sporting events a no-risk proposition.

Dishonest declaration:

Zeidman lives in the south Florida city of Boca Raton and is reportedly being charged with having received approximately $25 million via interstate wire transfers and private commercial carriers after placing misleading radio advertisements with broadcasters across the United States. The federal indictment purportedly also contends that these marketing campaigns promised sportsbetting aficionados that the scheme took a ‘sophisticated white-collar approach to gathering sports information.’

Inside intelligence:

Ricky Patel serves as the Deputy Special Agent in Charge at Homeland Security Investigations and he used an official Wednesday press release to disclose that Zeidman had used a number of aliases in relation to the unlawful sportsbetting scheme including the Ray Palmer Group, Grant Sports International and Gordon Howard Global. The investigator furthermore charged that this system had asked punters to pay a fee in order to access supposedly privileged information received from television executives and college team physicians concerning allegedly fixed contests.

Read a statement from Patel…

“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 to bilk millions from victims along the way and leave their lives in financial ruin and their bank accounts empty.”

Racket revenues:

United States Attorney Breon Peace is reportedly leading the indictment against Zeidman and he reportedly proclaimed that the poker professional had ‘defrauded’ victims and persuaded them to ‘drain their retirement accounts to invest in his bogus sportsbetting group’. The attorney moreover purportedly asserted that the defendant had used the resulting proceeds of the illicit scheme to fund ‘international vacations, a multi-million-dollar residence and poker tournaments’.

A statement from Peace read…

“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.”