California Man Jailed for Tax Evasion and Illegal Gambling

A California man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business and money laundering, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced.

Jason Noah Feinman, of Calabasas, operated a Costa Rica-based business whose website enabled unlicensed and illegal gambling operators to facilitate betting activity. Customers placed wagers through sites Feinman maintained, in breach of both state and federal law.

The case offers a textbook illustration of the placement and layering risks that arise where cash-intensive, offshore-hosted operations intersect with the regulated banking system. Feinman laundered the proceeds of his business by exchanging cash for cheques made payable to himself or his entities. Between May 2018 and January 2024, he handed one customer more than $1.5m in cash and received 18 cheques of equivalent value in return. In total, he converted between $1.5m and $3.5m in cash through this method.

The cheque-for-cash mechanism is notable for compliance teams: the structuring of value into negotiable instruments payable to corporate vehicles is a familiar means of obscuring the illicit origin of funds and introducing them into the financial system with a veneer of legitimacy. The pattern underscores why transaction monitoring around round-sum cheque deposits and frequent counterparty reciprocity remains a meaningful detection point.

Between 2018 and 2022, Feinman also evaded tax on income from the gambling operation. Despite earning roughly $1.8m in 2020, he declared no taxable income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and paid no tax for that year. Overall, he evaded tax on approximately $4.2m in income. He pleaded guilty to one count each of tax evasion, operating an illegal gambling business and money laundering.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, and prosecuted by the Criminal Division's Tax Section. It was brought under the DOJ's recently established National Fraud Enforcement Division, announced in April 2026.

Read the press release here.