On June 10, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the sentencing of two Ohio men, Christos Karasarides Jr. and Ronald DiPietro, for a range of crimes including tax evasion, gambling, money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction.
According to evidence presented at trial and court documents, from 2009 through July 2018, Karasarides and DiPietro operated multiple illegal gambling businesses, including Skilled Shamrock and Redemption. These operations generated substantial profits, with Skilled Shamrock alone seeing patrons gamble over $34 million between 2012 and 2017, resulting in more than $7 million in profits. To conceal their ownership and the income generated from these businesses, Karasarides and DiPietro allegedly used nominee owners and sham contracts. According to the IRS, Karasarides did not report or pay taxes on a sizable portion of his income, resulting in a tax loss of $5.4 million. Similarly, DiPietro, who allegedly assisted Karasarides in evading tax liabilities, purportedly caused a tax loss of $4.7 million.
Karasarides and DiPietro allegedly utilized their proceeds to purchase luxury items, maintain country club memberships, and engage in extravagant gambling trips. The government also claimed they kept copious amounts of cash and silver at their homes and other properties. Law enforcement seized significant amounts of cash during the investigation, including $150,000 from Karasarides’ house and $239,000 from a safe deposit box. Karasarides allegedly further attempted to obstruct the investigation by directing witnesses to lie and by creating false documents. After some co-defendants were indicted in 2022, Karasarides allegedly caused another individual to file false tax returns to disguise his ownership in a business.
Karasarides received a sentence of 262 months in prison, along with 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $5,541,520 in restitution to the United States and to forfeit his residence and $419,768 in cash. DiPietro, formerly a Certified Public Accountant, was sentenced to 112 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4,763,520 in restitution.
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