Sports Bettor Pleads Guilty To $10 Million Fraud SchemeSocial Media Personality Robert Gorodetsky Swindled Nearly $10 Million From Single Victim To Fund A High-Stakes Gambling Persona |
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A well-known sports betting social media personality pled guilty last Wednesday to wire fraud and filing a false tax return after swindling his victim out of nearly $10 million to fund his high-stakes gambling and lavish lifestyle.
27-year-old Chicago-native Robert Gorodetsky entered his plea in front of a U.S. District Court judge in his hometown. He faces up to six years in prison and must repay $7.2 million in outstanding losses.
Gorodetsky was somewhat of a celebrity in the sports betting world. He amassed as many as 172,000 followers on Instagram where he posted pictures at sporting events and in casinos with athletes and other celebrities, all while touting a 65-percent success rate on sports bets that were regularly in the six-figure range.
While being shadowed for a 2017 USA Today interview, Gorodetsky bet well over $1 million on several different sporting events and gambled tens of thousands on assorted table games in Las Vegas.
Gortodetsky didn’t amass his fortune by beating the sportsbooks, however. Over the course of a four-year span between 2014-2017, Gorodetsky ran a scheme against a single investor. The investor, who was listed in the charges as “Victim A” gave Gorodetsky $953,000 in February 2014 to invest in the stock market.
Gorodetsky created false statements showing large returns on his victim’s money. According to the Chicago Tribune, Gorodetsky told Victim A that his original investment had grown to $2 million in July 2014 and continued to ask for more money over the next three years.
The Tribune said that Gorodetsky used at least $2.2 million of the victim’s money on luxury cars, jewelry, and other entertainment expenses.
Gorodetsky had a brief stint as a professional poker player in 2016. That year, he cashed in the $25,000 no-limit hold’em event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Over his career, he has five cashes totaling $126,218. His last cash came just over a year ago with a 230th place finish in a $360 no-limit hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock.
Gorodetsky’s guilty plea comes just four months after World Poker Tour Champion Dennis Blieden admitted to embezzling $22 million from his former company.
Gorodetsky will be back in court on April 29 for sentencing.
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