A suburban Chicago man who portrayed himself as a heavyweight in the Las Vegas sports gambling scene pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding an investor out of millions of dollars.
Robert Gorodetsky, of Northbrook, pleaded guilty to federal counts of wire fraud and filing a false tax return. His plea agreement states that he faces up to six years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo scheduled the sentencing hearing for April 29.
According to prosecutors, Gorodetsky defrauded the victim, identified in court documents only as "Victim A,” out of roughly $9.6 million from 2014 to 2017. The victim said he gave money to Gorodetsky, 27, that he thought was being used to bet on sports and invested in the stock market, with the idea that they would share the profits and losses. During that time, Gorodetsky regularly posted photos of himself on social media interacting with beautiful women and athletes.
The victim allegedly gave Gorodetsky $953,000 between February and June 2014, most of which the accused put to his personal use, according to the charges. Gorodetsky allegedly told the investor that the money had grown to $2 million and that he planned to use it to bet on sports.
Between July 2014 and November 2017, Gorodetsky used fake statements to persuade the investor that the money was growing but that more money was needed. The investor turned over another $8.74 million to be gambled on sports, according to prosecutors. Instead, Gorodetsky spent most of it elsewhere, including $2.2 to pay for living, travel and entertainment expenses, and for luxury automobiles and jewelry, prosecutors allege.
Gorodetsky is also accused of claiming on his 2015 income tax return that he had a total income of $10,520, knowing his income “substantially exceeded that amount.”
