Sex Video Extortion Plot Against Mysterious Pro Gambler Leads to Las Vegas Arrest

Posted on: August 15, 2019, 07:48h. 

Last updated on: August 16, 2019, 12:07h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A reputed male “prostitute” has pleaded not guilty to an extortion charge following his attempt to allegedly shake down an unidentified high-profile gambler for $100,000. The accusation stems from a video the defendant secretly took of the pair having a “sexual encounter” in an unnamed Las Vegas Strip hotel, according to court records.

The Residence Inn at Hughes Center Drive in Las Vegas was where FBI agents arrested a suspect in a sting for allegedly trying to shake down an unnamed pro gambler in connection with a sex tape. (Image: Marriott)

Fredi Kazimirsky, 27, demanded the money or he would sell the claimed explicit footage to a porn or entertainment site, texts sent to the victim and released by federal authorities reveal. During the tryst, the duo “consumed alcohol and drugs and had an intimate encounter,” sometime in April or May, the recently released complaint said.

After getting the money, Kazimirsky said he was “going to fly back to Russia” on July 10. He would then leave the US “for good.”

He told the victim, unless he got the cash within 24 hours, the videos would be on “every major site in less than 30 hours.” He additionally threatened to “ruin the reputation” of the victim.

In the texts, he admonished the victim that one adult site, Porn.com, would pay him $50,000 for a video showing “any famous person.” TMZ would provide approximately $300,000 for a “discrete interview and my videos.”

Other named porn sites, such as Xvideos, Pornhub, HDporn, celebritysextapes.net, would pay him around $40,000 for the footage. Or, “dark websites” would give him “more than 60,000 dollars.”

It could not be independently confirmed by Casino.org if any of the sites would pay for such videos.

“I don’t play no games,” Kazimirsky had warned the victim. “Don’t f..k with me…. Take it or leave it … but please don’t think that I’m playing. I need the money.”

On June 27, after receiving the threatening texts, the victim contacted the Las Vegas office of the FBI. In a sting set up by federal officials, the two men arranged a meeting where the victim would pay about half the money Kazimirsky requested. The balance would be paid later.

Kazimirsky hired an Uber driver to drive him to the Residence Inn, 370 Hughes Center Drive, Las Vegas, where he was taken into custody. During his June 28 apprehension, Kazimirsky admitted to sending the texts to the victim, the FBI said.

Upon his arrest, Kazimirsky told authorities he was joking and was only trying to teach the victim a lesson.

Kazimirsky also had claimed to the victim that he had sold a video depicting a woman affiliated with professional wrestling for over $40,000 to one adult site. It showed her having sex with Kazimirsky, he said.

The high-profile gambler is not named in court documents — an indication the victim is indeed well-known. He does live outside of Nevada.

Kazimirsky told the FBI he searched the victim’s name on Google. He discovered the victim was “famous and a professional high-stakes gambler.”

A grand jury indicted him on August 7. He was charged with use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote extortion.

This week, a jury trial was scheduled for October 7, 2019, before US District Court Judge Andrew P. Gordon. Kazimirsky is represented by federal public defenders.

Kazimirsky was released on his own recognizance with some special conditions, according to federal court officials. He did not have to post bail. He just promised to reappear in court.

If convicted, the maximum penalty Kazimirsky could get is five years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine.

Even though Kazimirsky was identified as a “prostitute” in federal documents, it remains unclear if he was involved in prostitution when he first met the victim at the hotel room.

Arrest Recalls Earlier Alleged Extortion

The incident and arrest are akin to a 2015 case where an unnamed, married Las Vegas mogul fell victim to an alleged extortion plot after he was filmed having sex with a stripper.

The incident led to the arrest of the stripper’s boyfriend, identified as Ernesto Joshua Ramos.

That case was also marked by investigators and prosecutors not releasing the victim’s name to the public. The secrecy was apparently tied to the victim’s high profile.

Ramos was indicted on a single count of “use of a facility of interstate communication to promote extortion.” Ramos pleaded guilty to the charge.

In 2016, the defendant’s lawyers tried to get the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to throw out his prison sentence and let him proceed with attempts to withdraw his guilty plea.

At one point, Ramos was sentenced to 366 days in prison. The outcome of his sentence could not be immediately discovered.

Woman Tried to Extort Wynn

In still another case in 2018, a lawyer for Steve Wynn, the disgraced casino mogul, reported a woman to the FBI, accusing her of extortion for threatening to go public with sexual misconduct claims, according to documents filed in a Nevada court.

The documents reveal the woman accepted an unknown amount of supposed hush money, allegedly from Wynn, in 2006.