Ohio Man Charged for Running an Illegal $34million Gambling Enterprise

08:36
02 Jul

A federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, has accused a local man of running an illegal gambling business that made more than $30 million in gross revenue.

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Multiple Charges

Christos Karasarides Jr., who lives in Canton, was prosecuted for tax evasion, filing false tax returns, interfering with witnesses, making up records, and five different schemes to run illicit gambling operations, trick the IRS and launder money.

In May 2021, the authorities charged Jason and Rebecca Kachner, CPA Ronald DiPietro, and Thomas Helmick with more crimes, including working together to run illegal gambling operations and trick the IRS.

The amended indictment includes Karasarides and contains additional tax-related accusations against DiPietro.

As per the second trumped-up accusation, between 2010 and 2018, Karasarides, Jason Kachner, Rebecca Kachner, and DiPietro colluded to run Skilled Shamrock, an unlicensed business in Canton. Moreover, they allegedly conspired to defraud the Internal Revenue Service by covering up the revenue generated by Skilled Shamrock.

Gamblers at Skilled Shamrock are said to have gambled a sum of approximately $34 million between 2012 and 2017, which earned the operators a net profit of more than $4 million.

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Tax Evasion

In addition, authorities accuse Karasarides in the second superseding indictment of accumulating more than $1.4 million in taxes payable to the Internal Revenue Service from 2009 through 2013.

Karasarides and DiPietro reportedly attempted to evade this tax bill by providing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with false information to hide Karasarides' ownership of illicit gaming operations and profits from those businesses.

With DiPietro's assistance, Karasarides submitted fake tax returns to the IRS from 2013 to 2016. Karasarides' tax forms reportedly omitted all of his earnings from Skillful Shamrock and other gaming firms. The Kachners and Helmick were charged with conspiracy and submitting phony tax returns for purportedly underreporting gross earnings from Redemption Skill Games 777.

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Witness Tampering

Karasarides reportedly attempted to interfere with a grand jury witness throughout the probe.

The authorities also charged him with directing business partners and his son to sign phony promissory notes to validate promised financing. When Karasarides realized that the grand jury had summoned one of his business acquaintances, he reportedly urged the witness to testify falsely that his loan was legal.

In addition, authorities accuse Karasarides of plotting to launder cash by giving the money to a friend who agreed to set up a firm to make the payment so that, on paper, Karasarides would never pay off the principal and own the home outright. It allegedly happened when he made the last payment on his private residence, which Karasarides financed with cash from his illegal gambling enterprises.

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Imminent Sentence

If found guilty, Karasarides could receive a maximum sentence of five years in jail for each count of scheming to run an illicit gambling enterprise and flee the IRS, three years of jail time for submitting a fake tax return, five years' imprisonment for tax evasion, and twenty years behind bars for each count of colluding to launder money, tamper with witnesses, and falsify records.

For assisting Karasarides in evading taxes, DiPietro risks a possible sentence of five years in jail; for aiding Karasarides in filing a fake tax return, he faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. A federal district court judge will consider the U.S. Sentencing Regulations and other statutory considerations when determining any penalty.