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A Florida man faces fraud and money laundering charges after local law enforcement raided an illegal poker game he ran.
The investigators discovered he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for the operation.
James Kerr, 39, was arrested on April 1 by officers with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department and faces three counts of money laundering in excess of $100,000. The game was held in the Winter Park area, just north of Orlando, and the arrest came after officers conducted an undercover investigation.
“We learned that James Kerr was running a big-time operation and making hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told FOX-13.
Investigators Say Kerr Concealed Earnings
The department received a tip about the high-stakes poker games and later discovered Kerr made numerous transactions involving several bank accounts. According to investigators, those transactions tried to conceal illegal earnings of more than $800,000 between 2021 and 2023. He earned $408,878 in 2021 alone.
“Now keep in mind, he’s also a professional gambler,” Judd said. “If you search him up online, you’ll see that he’s won a lot of money legally gambling. But guess what? He became greedy and decided he’d set up his own illegal game and that’s when he got arrested.”
Kerr, a Lakeland native, has more than $677,000 in tournament winnings. His biggest win came in 2021 when he took down a $1,700 no-limit hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic for $228,038. Last October, Kerr won the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Signature Poker Series for $111,294.
After his first appearance in court, Kerr’s attorneys argued that the state didn’t have probable cause for the charges.
“He put it inside his own bank accounts,” his attorney argued, referring to the funds he received. “It’s no different than putting your legal gambling debts in a sock. That’s not the laundry, that’s not the wash.”
Judd said the investigation is ongoing, and more people could be charged. Illegal gambling and betting controversies have been in the news quite a bit recently. In October, South Korean comedian Lee Jin-ho admitted to breaking the country’s laws by illegally gambling, losing thousands of dollars in the process. Much of that money was borrowed from friends and family.
Source: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-ne...ested-after-running-illegal-underground-games
The investigators discovered he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for the operation.
James Kerr, 39, was arrested on April 1 by officers with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department and faces three counts of money laundering in excess of $100,000. The game was held in the Winter Park area, just north of Orlando, and the arrest came after officers conducted an undercover investigation.
“We learned that James Kerr was running a big-time operation and making hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told FOX-13.
Investigators Say Kerr Concealed Earnings
The department received a tip about the high-stakes poker games and later discovered Kerr made numerous transactions involving several bank accounts. According to investigators, those transactions tried to conceal illegal earnings of more than $800,000 between 2021 and 2023. He earned $408,878 in 2021 alone.
“Now keep in mind, he’s also a professional gambler,” Judd said. “If you search him up online, you’ll see that he’s won a lot of money legally gambling. But guess what? He became greedy and decided he’d set up his own illegal game and that’s when he got arrested.”
Kerr, a Lakeland native, has more than $677,000 in tournament winnings. His biggest win came in 2021 when he took down a $1,700 no-limit hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic for $228,038. Last October, Kerr won the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Signature Poker Series for $111,294.
After his first appearance in court, Kerr’s attorneys argued that the state didn’t have probable cause for the charges.
“He put it inside his own bank accounts,” his attorney argued, referring to the funds he received. “It’s no different than putting your legal gambling debts in a sock. That’s not the laundry, that’s not the wash.”
Judd said the investigation is ongoing, and more people could be charged. Illegal gambling and betting controversies have been in the news quite a bit recently. In October, South Korean comedian Lee Jin-ho admitted to breaking the country’s laws by illegally gambling, losing thousands of dollars in the process. Much of that money was borrowed from friends and family.
Source: https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-ne...ested-after-running-illegal-underground-games
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