The Incredible Rise Of PokerStars Cofounder Isai Scheinberg—And His Surrender To Federal Agents
Last Friday, Isai Scheinberg, the 73-year-old cofounder of PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker company, boarded a plane in Switzerland for the nine-hour flight to New York City. On the other end, he would not be greeted at the airport by family members or businesses associates, but by federal agents who would take him into custody. Scheinberg, an Israeli-Canadian who spent years living in Canada and on the Isle of Man, an offshore British dependency, has for two decades steered clear of American soil, especially since U.S. federal prosecutors had indicted him on gambling, bank fraud and money laundering charges in 2011. His sudden appearance in New York is the endgame of a high-stakes corporate and legal drama involving billions of dollars.
A few months ago, federal prosecutors launched extradition proceedings during a visit Scheinberg made to Switzerland. Scheinberg initially contested the extradition effort, but later decided to voluntarily travel to the U.S. to face the charges. In a hearing conducted in Manhattan’s federal court last Friday, Scheinberg pleaded not guilty and was released on $1 million bail. A representative for Scheinberg declined to comment.
