Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Pilchak (619) 546-9709 or Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill (619) 546-7924

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – July 2, 2019

SAN DIEGO – Two residents of Laguna Beach admitted today to perpetrating a complicated scheme to defraud the bankruptcy court using sham transactions, fake people, and lies under oath. 

During a hearing this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara L. Major, both Evan P. Dameshek and David Greg Leppo pleaded guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud. 

Dameshek, 57, owned and operated TriPharma LLC, a Laguna Beach company with claims against Imaginetix, Inc.—a company in bankruptcy before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Mann.  When Judge Mann directed Imaginetix to pay TriPharma’s former attorney, who held the money based on a fee dispute, Dameshek and Leppo devised a scheme to defraud all of them. Specifically, Dameshek and Leppo admitted in their guilty pleas that they created a fake agreement to make it appear that $3.2 million of TriPharma’s claims were sold to Leppo’s offshore company, Dutch Harbour Financial. 

To make the fake “purchase” seem real, Dameshek and Leppo arranged for Dameshek’s associate  to wire $200,000 to Leppo’s company, which Leppo then used to “purchase” Tripharma’s claim.  Dameshek admitted that he actually returned the “purchase” money to his associate the same day it was received, minus $40,000 that Leppo kept for himself.  

Leppo, also 57, admitted to directing two of his employees to sign agreements on behalf of Dutch Harbour, and using the name “David Greg” instead of his real full name, in order to distance himself from the sham transaction. 

Dameshek admitted that after completing the phony sale, he instructed Leppo to send a letter as “David Greg” to Imaginetix, demanding money on Dutch Harbour’s behalf, in violation of the bankruptcy court’s order. When Imaginetix refused, Dameshek posed as “Dutch Harbour” to contact Imaginetix’s creditors, and made the same demand. 

Based on the fraud, a payment of over $282,000 was made to “Dutch Harbour” before the bogus scheme came to light. Dameshek, however, persisted with the fraud by filing a declaration as “Robert Paige” – a person he invented – falsely claiming that the sham purchase was a real transaction. 

“White collar criminals cannot escape justice by dressing up their lies in complex transactions or overseas shell companies,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer.  “The entire judicial process depends upon witnesses telling the truth.  Our office will hold accountable anyone who tries to defraud the court—whether by simple perjury, or an elaborate scheme like this one.”

“The FBI is dedicated to uncovering all criminal conduct in the cases we investigate,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Brunner.  “This complicated fraud scheme, which has the effect of degrading the integrity of the bankruptcy system, is another example of the FBI’s determination to ensure no stone goes unturned to reveal the illegal acts of Defendants like Mr. Leppo and Mr. Dameshek.”

Dameshek and Leppo are scheduled to be sentenced on September 16, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia.

Leppo was also one of 12 individuals indicted in July 2016 for his involvement in Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book.  On April 4, 2019, Leppo pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling business in that matter in case number 16-cr-1695-BEN, which is now set for sentencing on September 16, 2019, before United States District Judge Roger T. Benitez.

DEFENDANTS                     Case Number 19-cr-0903-AJB

Evan P. Dameshek                  Laguna Beach, CA                 Age: 57

David Greg Leppo                  Laguna Beach, CA                 Age: 57

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Bankruptcy Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 157

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, $250,000 fine (or twice the pecuniary gain or loss), restitution and forfeiture.

DEFENDANT                       Case Number 16-cr-1695-BEN

David Greg Leppo                  Laguna Beach, CA                 Age: 57

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Illegal Gambling Business – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1955

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, $250,000 fine (or twice the pecuniary gain or loss), forfeiture.

AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill (619) 546-7924 or

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Pilchak (619) 546-9709 or

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ajay Krishnamurthy (619) 546-9613

 

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – August 29, 2017

 

SAN DIEGO – Sanders Bruce Segal and his son, Sydney Bruce Segal, each pleaded guilty today to engaging in a racketeering conspiracy that operated for years out of the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room and other locations in San Diego.

 

The defendants admitted at today’s hearing to participating in an international racketeering enterprise – Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book – that regularly engaged in unlawful activity such as bookmaking, transmitting wagering information, money laundering and collecting unlawful debts.

 

As outlined in the indictments, the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room is a licensed gambling establishment that offers legitimate, tightly-regulated card games. Between 2013 and 2016, however, it also provided a front for Sanders Segal’s illegal bookmaking operations. Sydney Segal was an employee of the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room, and used his position working in the cage to commingle cash from the card room’s lawful gambling operations with the proceeds of the enterprise’s unlawful sports betting.

 

In his plea agreement, Sanders Segal admitted his role as a leader and organizer of Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book. In this capacity, Sanders Segal directed the other members of the enterprise to use gambling websites based overseas to place illegal sports bets on behalf of customers located in the United States.

 

Sanders Segal and other conspirators also coordinated the unlawful collection of those illegal wagers, typically in cash, and sent and received large sums of cash on behalf of the enterprise. For example, Sanders Segal admitted that on April 2, 2015, he met co-defendant David Greg Leppo in a supermarket parking lot in Del Mar, California, and handed Leppo $10,000 in cash proceeds from illegal gambling.

 

Similarly, Sanders Segal admitted that on April 23, 2015, co-defendant Stanley Samuel Penn provided him with $20,000 in cash proceeds that Penn had been holding for the defendant, which Sanders Segal then delivered to co-defendant Petter Magnus Karlsson while at the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room. Sanders Segal received 10% of any profits earned by the illegal sports bets placed through his enterprise, as well as additional financial benefits.

 

In his plea agreement, Sydney Bruce Segal admitted his role as bookkeeper for Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book, and specifically that he maintained records of winning and losing bettors and the amount of money that supported the enterprise’s activities held by him and other co-conspirators. Sydney Segal also admitted that cash from the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room’s lawful gambling operations was held alongside proceeds of unlawful sports betting coordinated by Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book, including in a “player’s bank” provided by the card room.

 

As part of his plea, Sanders Segal agreed to forfeit $222,834, and Sydney Bruce Segal agreed to forfeit $10,000, each figure representing direct proceeds from their respective participation in the offense.

 

Twelve defendants have thus far pleaded guilty to federal charges as a result of the investigation targeting Segal’s Lucky Lady Sports Book: Sanders Bruce Segal, Petter Magnus Karlsson, Pablo Ballestero Frech, Sydney Bruce Segal, Joseph Edward Spatafore, Minh Triet Dinh Nguyen, James Heng Tear, Ken Pheng Keo, Jason D. Taylor, Jeffrey Alan Burke, Ryan Richard Buchardt and Robert Jay Zaben.

 

Sentencing for both Sanders Segal and Sydney Segal is scheduled for December 4, 2017 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez.

 

The two remaining defendants, Stanley Samuel Penn and David Greg Leppo, are charged with racketeering conspiracy and operating an illegal gambling business. Their cases are set for a motion hearing on August 31, 2017, and a jury trial on October 3, 2017, before Judge Benitez. The charges against these two defendants are merely accusations; they are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

DEFENDANTS                                           Case Number: 16CR1695-BEN

 

Sanders Bruce Segal                                    Age 66                            San Diego

Sydney Bruce Segal                                     Age 34                            San Diego

 

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

 

Count 1: Racketeering Conspiracy to Conduct Enterprise Affairs (RICO Conspiracy), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1962(c) & (d)

Maximum penalties: 20 years in prison, 3 years supervised release, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture

 

AGENCIES

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation

San Diego Police Department

Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation

 

 

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill (619) 546-7924 or Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pilchak (619) 546-9709

 

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – April 13, 2017

 

SAN DIEGO – Swedish businessman Petter Magnus Karlsson, who had recently been living in Asia, pleaded guilty today to engaging in an international racketeering conspiracy that used the Lucky Lady Casino and Card Room in El Cajon as a legitimate front for illegal sports bookmaking and related criminal activity. Karlsson voluntarily travelled to the United States last week to face the charges that had been pending since July 2016.

 

As set out in his plea agreement, Karlsson helped provide financing to lead defendant Sanders Bruce Segal in order to bankroll Segal’s bookmaking operation, which took illegal sports bets from customers across the Southern District of California and in the District of Arizona. Karlsson also provided Segal and others in the enterprise with access to offshore sports gaming websites hosted in Costa Rica, the U.K., Hong Kong, and Curacao, so that they could place large illegal sports bets online while shielding their unlawful activity from U.S. authorities.

 

According to the plea agreement, the enterprise’s primary offshore sports gambling website, betmex.net, was owned and operated by co-defendant David Gregg Leppo. Karlsson supervised co-defendant Pablo Ballestero Frech in managing accounts for Segal at Leppo’s website and others. Frech returned from Canada to face charges and pleaded guilty to unlawful transmission of wagering information last October.

 

Karlsson, Segal, and others in the enterprise regularly used runners and other means to transfer large sums of cash between themselves to fuel their operation. On one occasion, according to the plea agreement, Karlsson and Frech personally picked up a shoebox full of $90,000 in cash proceeds directly from Segal on his front doorstep. As part of his plea, Karlsson agreed to forfeit $139,834, which represented direct proceeds of his participation in the offense.

 

Seven defendants in addition to Karlsson have thus far pleaded guilty to gambling charges as part of cases stemming from the investigation of the Lucky Lady: Pablo Ballestero Frech, Minh Triet Dinh Nguyen, James Heng Tear, Ken Pheng Keo, Jason D. Taylor, Jeffrey Alan Burke, and Ryan Richard Buchardt.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson commented, “For too long, transnational criminal organizations have attempted to skirt United States laws by using offshore servers, networks of illicit cash couriers and complex financial transactions. But tycoons in the lucrative world of international sports gambling now have one sure bet: If your conduct violates American law, you will find yourself in a United States courtroom and be held to account.”

 

“Sophisticated racketeering organizations continually rely on the mistaken notion that they can move beyond the reach of the law by spreading their operations across international borders,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric S. Birnbaum. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that there are no safe havens. The FBI will work tirelessly with our international partners to ensure that criminals are brought to justice no matter where they hide.”

 

Karlsson’s sentencing is currently set for July 17, 2017 at 9 a.m. The remaining defendants are set for a motion hearing June 26, 2017 before Judge Roger T. Benitez.

 

DEFENDANTS—Case Number: 16CR1695-BEN Next Court Date

 

Sanders Bruce Segal Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

Stanley Samuel Penn Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

Petter Magnus Karlsson Sentencing

David Greg Leppo Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

Pablo Ballestro Frech Sentencing

Sydney Bruce Segal Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

Joseph Edward Spatafore Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

Minh Triet Dinh Nguyen Sentencing

James Heng Tear Sentencing

Ken Pheng Keo Sentencing

Jason D. Taylor Sentencing

Jeffrey Alan Burke Sentencing

 

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

 

Count 1: Racketeering Conspiracy to Conduct Enterprise Affairs (RICO Conspiracy), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1962(c) & (d)

Maximum penalties: 20 years in prison, 3 years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine

Defendants 1-6

 

Count 2: Illegal Gambling Business, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1955

Maximum Penalties: 5 years in prison, 3 years supervised release, and a $250,000 fine

All defendants

 

Count 3: Transmitting Wagering Info, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1084(a)

Maximum Penalties: 2 years in prison, 1 year supervised release, and a $250,000 fine

Defendants 7 and 11

 

DEFENDANT—Case Number: 16CR1696-BEN Next Court Date

 

Robert Jay Zaben Motion Hearing June 26, 2017

 

AGENCIES

 

Federal Bureau of Investigation

San Diego Police Department

Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation

 

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.