Chicago man charged by feds with conducting illegal sports gambling business
CHICAGO - A Chicago man is accused in federal court with running an illegal sports betting business and concealing the income in bankruptcy court.
Michael Frontier, 35, allegedly provided bettors with gambling accounts at an online sportsbook based in Costa Rica, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois.
Frontier paid a service fee to the sportsbook to use the platform, and then personally collecting or paying cash to the bettors, prosecutors said.
When Frontier tried to discharge his debts, including a $1.5 million civil judgement against him for negligence in a motorcycle crash, he allegedly concealed his gambling income in bankruptcy court, prosecutors said. He ultimately settled the negligence case for only $4,500.
Frontier goes by the aliases “Ira Goldberg,” “Brian Seagal” and “Matthew Sullivan,” prosecutors said.
He is charged with five counts of money laundering, five counts of making a false statement in a bankruptcy case, two counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of conducting an illegal gambling business and one count of making a false declaration in bankruptcy court, according to the indictment. Frontier’s arraignment has not been scheduled.
Each count of money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and the other counts of punishable up to five years, prosecutors said.