Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested Wednesday alongside five other men on conspiracy charges for allegedly running an illegal \u201chigh-stakes\u201d poker game in Encino that included hiring women to provide \u201ccompanionship\u201d for gamblers, court records show.<\/p>\n
Arenas, 43, rented out an Encino mansion that he owned between September 2021 and July 2022 \u201cfor the purposes of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games,\u201d according to a news release issued by the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles. Players were charged a \u201crake\u201d or tax to play, in addition to whatever they bet into various pots, prosecutors alleged in court records.<\/p>\n
Best known for his time as a guard on the Washington Wizards, Arenas is identified in court records by his nickname \u201cAgent Zero.\u201d He last played professionally in China in 2013. <\/p>\n
Indicted alongside Arenas were: Yevgeni Gershman, 49, of Woodland Hills; Evgenni Tourevski, 48, of Tarzana; Allan Austria, 52, of West Hills; Yarin Cohen, 27, of Tarzana and Ievgen Krachun, 43, of Tarzana. Prosecutors described Gershman as a \u201csuspected organized crime figure\u201d in Israel. <\/p>\n
Gershman, Tourevski, Austria and Cohen managed the poker games, prosecutors said. Gershman also allegedly hired young women to serve drinks, provide massages and offer \u201ccompanionship\u201d to players, according to the indictment. <\/p>\n
The games began to come together in September 2021, according to the indictment. That year, Arthur Kats, 51, texted Arenas asking whether he planned on doing his own game, records show. Arenas allegedly responded that he \u201cmight throw plo games at my house,\u201d referring to illegal \u201cPot Limit Omaha\u201d poker games at the \u201cGable House.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following month, Arenas allegedly texted Kats the date that the house would be available to host, the amount of rent he wanted to charge and the number of games he planned on hosting there per week. In November 2021, authorities said, Arenas texted Kats a picture of a gold-trimmed poker table with \u201cARENAS POKER CLUB\u201d printed on it and an image of a basketball player with a jersey with the name \u201cArenas\u201d and the number zero below it.<\/p>\n
That year, in December, Kats allegedly texted Arenas saying that he owed him $14,000 for tables and chairs as a startup expense for hosting the games. That same month, Arenas allegedly told Kats he wanted the rake from an illegal poker game at the house to go to the mother of a deceased former lover.<\/p>\n
Arenas is slated to make his initial appearance in downtown L.A. on Wednesday afternoon. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n
Gershman was separately accused of conspiring with 35-year-old Valentina Cojocari to enter into a \u201csham marriage\u201d so he could obtain legal permanent resident status in the U.S., prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
This is not the first time Arenas has run afoul of authorities due to gambling. In 2009, Arenas and then-Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton allegedly pulled guns on each other during a locker room argument over a card game. <\/a>Police launched an investigation and Arenas later admitted to having three guns in his locker. No charges were filed but he was suspended for most of the 2009-10 NBA season.<\/p>\n