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Molly Bloom To Release Tell-All Memoir
Published by admin on July 22, 2013
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Daily Mail – She made her name as the glamorous organiser of secret high-stakes poker games for a string of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
But now some of Tinsletown’s best-known celebrities are bracing themselves for potentially embarrassing revelations in her tell-all memoir.
Notorious poker madam Molly Bloom – who hosted card parties for celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Matt Damon – was arrested in Los Angeles as part of an investigation into an illegal big-money poker ring.
But before the glamourous 33-year-old takes the witness stand next year, she is threatening to lift the lid on what went on during those late-night card games, where participants might pay a minimum of $100,000 to join.
And some of her famous clients’ biggest betting secrets could also be revealed.
Matt Damon is one of several celebrities linked to Molly Bloom
Among the details Miss Bloom could disclose, include whether Maguire – widely known to be a top poker player – has any ‘tells’ which alert others that he has a good hand, according to the Express newspaper.
Another rumour which could be confirmed is whether Damon once lost the equivalent to $25,000 in a single game.
None of those celebrities are implicated in the investigation into Bloom and 32 others.
But she did have a front row seat during many all-nigh and super exclusive poker games involving the world’s richest and most famous individuals.
It is understood Bloom would invite a very select group of high-rolling celebrities to a number of locations around Hollywood – including Maguire’s LA mansion.
The games then moved on to famous nightclub The Viper Rooms – formerly owned by actor Johnny Depp.
One of the games in question was run out of a nightclub formerly owned by Johnny Depp
But the discrete and carefully crafted arrangements put in place by Bloom to protect the secrets of her high-profile clients began to unravel in 2011 when one regular player was convicted of fraud.
Banker Bradley Ruderman was found to have been running a ponzi scheme and gambling the money of his unwitting investors.
Among those astute poker players to win money from Ruderman was Maguire, who had taken a staggering $287,000 during games.
When Ruderman’s creditors came after the money, Maguire as well as a number of other actors, agreed to pay their winnings back and settled out of court.
Bloom cooperated with authorities over the Ruderman case.
But she is now in the crosshairs of U.S. government agencies over new allegations.
Dana Cole, an attorney for Bloom, said her client faces bookmaking charges.
The FBI says agents, alongside investigators from the IRS, were searching for ill-gotten profits from the illegal gambling activities.
Among those implicated the latest investigation is the son of one of the wealthiest families in the art world.
Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad, Bloom, and the 32 others were charged earlier last month, with racketeering, extortion, money laundering and illegal gambling, including threats of violence to make sure customers paid their debts.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York issued a statement on Tuesday alleging that one of the enterprises in the international gambling scheme laundered tens of millions of dollars through Cyprus shell companies and bank accounts into the U.S.
The group of 34, which also included professional poker player Vadim Trincher and Edwin Ting, who runs a high-stakes Manhattan poker club, were indicted in a sweeping several-year federal investigation that stretched from New York to Los Angeles, Miami, Kiev, Ukraine and Cyprus.
Federal agents raided Nahmad’s exclusive gallery in the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue, as dozens of arrests were made in New York and other U.S. cities.
Nahmad is accused of operating one of two organized gambling rings that specialized in high-stakes poker games hosted at various locations around New York as well as sports betting.
Nahmad is the son of David Nahmad, who is perhaps the most high-profile art dealer and collector in the world, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion
The Helly Nahmad Gallery, which is owned by Helly Naham, carries works by the likes of Wassily Kandinsky and Francis Bacon.
Nahmad is also accused of wire fraud for allegedly selling a $50,000 painting for $300,000.
The young wealthy art peddler runs in a dizzying social circle of A-list friends, which include supermodel Gisele Bundchen and her football quarterback husband Tom Brady, according to the New York Post.
Sources told the tabloid that DiCaprio often participated in the high-stakes poker games.
Apart from the more recognizable names, a 32-year-old JPMorgan Chase branch manager in New York was arrested and charged with helping one of the other defendants structure transactions in order to avoid bank reporting requirements, the 84-page indictment states.
Infamous Russian crime boss Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, nicknamed ‘the Little Taiwanese,’ has also been indicted in the case.
Tokhtakhounov is already a fugitive on the run. He was indicted for rigging the figure skating competition at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
He is a a ‘vory v zakone’ or ‘Vor’ – translated as ‘thief-in-law’ – the highest rank in Russian organized crime networks.
Authorities believe he provided protection and backing for the gambling rings. He is believed to be hiding out in Russia.
Tokhtakhounov and Nahmad are accused of running separate gambling and money laundering rings that worked together.
The FBI says Tokhtakhounov received a $10 million payment for his services.
Nahmad’s operation allegedly brought in $50 million since 2006.
Authorities say he made wire transfers from his Swiss bank accounts to help fund the operation.
His clients include high-profile businessmen, celebrities and sports stars. The FBI is not releasing the names of gamblers.
Debts from the gambling operations ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. One plumber from the Bronx, New York, was threatened by the alleged mobsters after he ran up a $2 million debt in 2010.
The gambling rings also included sophisticated money laundering operations that included a Brooklyn, New York, car repair shop and banks in Cyprus.
In addition to Tokhtakhounov, three other suspects have evaded capture and are hiding from authorities.
Abraham Mosseri, 40, is wanted for his role in operating an illegal sports bookmaking operation.
Donald McCalmont, 45, is wanted for laundering money through Titan Plumbing, a Bronx company taken over to repay a gambling debt.
William Edler, 49, is wanted for his role in operating an illegal sports bookmaking operation.
Nahmad’s operation allegedly brought in $50 million since 2006.
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