Man accused of defrauding investor of nearly $10 million

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man who cultivated the image of being a heavyweight in the Las Vegas sports gambling scene has been charged in U.S. District Court with operating a wire fraud scheme that defrauded one victim of millions of dollars, court records show.

Federal prosecutors filed documents Tuesday showing Robert Gorodetsky, 27, of Northbrook, Illinois, is accused of wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. The filing, known as an information, usually indicates the defendant’s intention to plead guilty. Gorodetsky’s attorney, Chris Gair, declined to comment Wednesday.

Gorodetsky’s alleged theft of $9.6 million from the victim, identified in court documents as ``Victim A,” occurred from 2014 to 2017. Prosecutors say the victim considered money he gave Gorodetsky an investment for the accused to make stock market investments and sporting bets with the idea they would share the profits and losses.

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 the money had grown to $2 million and he planned to use the money to bet on sporting events.

Between July 2014 and November 2017, Gorodetsky used fake statements to convince the investor the money was growing, but more money was needed. The investor turned over another $8.74 million to be gambled on sports, according to prosecutors. Instead, Gorodetsky allegedly used most of the money for purposes unrelated to wagering on specific sporting events, including $2.2 million to pay living, travel and entertainment expenses, luxury automobiles and jewelry.

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.”