‘Bogus’ sports betting ring stole $25 million worth of people’s life savings, feds say

A professional poker player is accused of running a “bogus” sports betting ring that stole more than $25 million worth of people’s life savings while operating out of New York and Florida, federal prosecutors say.

His group would mislead others across the country into paying for fake “inside information” on professional and college sporting events that was promised to “lead them to easy money,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Cory Zeidman, 61, of Boca Raton, Florida, is facing multiple charges in connection to the alleged fraud scheme after spending the stolen money on poker tournaments, a multi-million dollar home and vacations around the world, a news release from the attorney’s office said. He was arrested on May 25.

Zeidman is a 2012 World Series of Poker bracelet winner, ESPN reported.

Attorney contact information for him was not immediately available.

“As alleged, Zeidman defrauded his victims, stole their life savings and persuaded them to drain their retirement accounts to invest in his bogus sports betting group,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

The scheme

Between 2004 and 2020, the ring Zeidman is accused of leading would put out nationwide radio advertisements, which offered fake sports betting advice, according to an indictment. His group was called the “Phoenix Organization.”

When radio listeners called a number mentioned in the advertisements, they were told by Zeidman and others involved in the scheme that “certain sporting events were predetermined, or ‘fixed,’” and that they “knew the outcomes,” prosecutors said.

Zeidman and his ring are accused of telling their victims that they obtained inside information on these events from TV executives and others “which could be used” for predictions, according to the indictment.

These victims were conned into paying for this information that was fake or could be found online through a search, the news release said. They believed this would come at no risk to them.

The victims, in total, sent Zeidman and others more than $25 million as a result through wire transfers and other means, according to prosecutors.

Zeidman is further accused of opening bank accounts in New York “in the names of shell corporations” to process the stolen money, the indictment said.

He is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy, the news release said. His first court appearance will be in a federal court in Miami following his arrest in Florida.

Zeidman “devised a criminal scheme to fatten his pockets using nothing more than people’s love for sports and his clever words wrapped around a fraud,” U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel Brubaker said in a statement.

This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 4:14 PM with the headline "‘Bogus’ sports betting ring stole $25 million worth of people’s life savings, feds say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.