NBA Star, Suspected Israeli Crime Lord Ran Luxury Illegal Poker Games at Encino Mansion

Feds: NBA Star, Suspected Israeli Crime Lord Ran Luxury Illegal Poker Games at Encino Mansion originally appeared on L.A. Mag.

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and five other defendants – including a suspected  Israeli international crime boss – were arrested Wednesday in a sweeping federal indictment alleging they operated an illegal high-stakes poker game for years at the basketball player’s Encino mansion. 

Arenas, 43, a.k.a. “Agent Zero,” of Woodland Hills, is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.

He is scheduled to make his initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles alongside Yevgeni “Giora” Gershman, 49, a Woodland Hills man federal prosecutors say is a suspected organized crime figure from Israel.

Also charged in the indictment and arrested today in connection with the illegal gambling business charges are: Evgenni Tourevski, 48, of Tarzana; Allan Austria, 52, of West Hills; Yarin Cohen, 27, of Tarzana; and Ievgen Krachun, 43, of Tarzana.

Each of these defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business. Their initial appearances and arraignments are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in Little Tokyo. 

According to the indictment, Arenas rented out an Encino mansion he owned for the “purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games.” 

At Arenas’ direction, another man Arthur Kats, 51, staged the mansion to host the games, found co-conspirators to host the games, and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf.

Gershman, Tourevski, Austria, and Cohen managed illegal “Pot Limit Omaha” poker games, among other illegal games, at the Encino mansion, collected a “rake” – a fee the house charged from each pot either as a percentage or a fixed amount per hand – and invited players to compete, according to a criminal complaint. 

Gershman “hired young women who, in exchange for tips, served drinks, provided massages, and offered companionship to the poker players,” the complaint says. The women were charged a “tax” – a percentage of their earnings from working the games. Chefs, valets, and armed security guards were also hired to staff these illegal poker games.

Krachun worked as a “chip runner,” in which he tracked players’ wins and losses, distributed poker chips to players, and paid employees.

The raid on the poker game led to additional federal charges for Gershman, an Israeli citizen, who is now also charged along with Valentina Cojocari, 35, of Woodland Hills, with three additional counts – conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud, and making a false statement on an immigration document. 

In early 2022, Gershman conspired with Cojocari to enter into a sham marriage to obtain permanent legal status in the United States and lied to immigration authorities to procure legal status for Gershman, who provided financial support to Cojocari in exchange for her participation in the sham marriage, prosecutors say. 

Both Gershman and Cojocari submitted false information on their U.S. immigration forms, including Gershman’s answers of “no” as to whether he had ever been detained by any law enforcement official and as to whether he intended to engage in illegal gambling or any other form of commercialized vice.

Cojocari was also arrested today and is scheduled to make her initial appearance and be arraigned this afternoon in the United States District Court in Los Angeles.

Earlier this year, Arenas’ son, USC basketball standout Alijah Arenas, was critically injured in a cybertruck crash.  The LAPD stated that Arenas was injured when the truck crashed into a fire hydrant, just before 5 a.m.

This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.