A Denver man, Jonathan Arvay, age 38, has received a sentence of one year and one day in prison following his conviction on charges of conducting an illegal gambling operation and conspiring to do the same, as confirmed by a recent announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
The trial, which was presided over by United States District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher, revealed that Arvay was behind Player One Arcade, a Denver establishment that stood at the heart of a gambling network reaching from Greeley to Pueblo, and it offered electronic gambling to customers through games similar to arcade games and virtual slot machines that allowed them to earn credits which they could then exchange for a so-called cryptocurrency named Obsidian Digital Asset Coin (ODAC), these ODAC credits had no other function but to be traded for cash through a special cryptocurrency teller machine, located next door or within the parlor, invariably incurring a transaction fee.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Acting United States Attorney Matt Kirsch commented on the case stating, “This was a modern version of old-fashioned illegal gambling,” and expressing gratitude towards the collaborative effort of local and federal partners in bringing Arvay to justice.
Moreover, the federal response underscored a staunch opposition to financial crimes, with FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek saying the sentence “reflects an appropriate resolution to a complicated case, When you launder money and commit fraud against the government, the FBI and our partners will track you down across jurisdictions,” indicating that law enforcement agencies are increasingly vigilant about sophisticated financial schemes.
The investigation was a combined effort conducted by the FBI Denver Field Division, the IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office, and the Pueblo Police Department, and the prosecutors on the case were Assistant United States Attorneys Cyrus Y. Chung, Alison Connaughty, and Jena Neuscheler, as the importance of addressing cybercrime gains ever-greater recognition, Tom Demeo Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office, emphasized, “IRS-CI remains on the cutting edge of cybercrime investigations as financial crimes continue to become more sophisticated,” reaffirming the commitment to prevailing over such criminality and safeguarding the U.S. tax system through vital inter-agency cooperation.
