California man hid $4.2 million in gambling income from IRS, prosecutors say

A California man was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for operating an illegal gambling business, laundering millions in cash proceeds and evading taxes on roughly $4.2 million in income, the Justice Department announced.

Jason Noah Feinman, of Calabasas, operated a Costa Rica-based business that, among other things, operated a website used by unlicensed and illegal gambling businesses to facilitate their gambling activities, according to court documents and statements made in court. The website enabled customers of the gambling businesses to place bets through websites he maintained — activity that is illegal under both state and federal law.

To launder cash generated by the business, Feinman exchanged it for checks made payable to himself or one of his businesses, prosecutors said. Between May 2018 and January 2024, he gave one customer more than $1.5 million in cash and received 18 checks for an equivalent amount in return. In total, Feinman exchanged between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in cash for checks, according to court documents.

Feinman also evaded taxes on income earned through the illegal gambling business between 2018 and 2022, prosecutors said. Despite earning approximately $1.8 million in income in 2020, he reported no taxable income to the IRS and paid no taxes that year. Over the full period, he evaded taxes on approximately $4.2 million in income, according to the government.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business and money laundering.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal A. Essayli for the Central District of California announced the sentence. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys John C. Gerardi and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Criminal Division’s Tax Section.

The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, created April 7, focuses on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people. The division’s work supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs.