Part 6/11:
The indictment uncovers a web of illegal activities, including rigged poker games operated through altered shuffling machines, scheme coordination via encrypted messaging, and organized extortion involving violent threats and mobster text messages. For instance, participating criminals used code words and secret signals to communicate their schemes, with text exchanges explicitly referencing the Gambino and other Mafia families' backing of their illegal operations.
One chilling example involves messages from “Flappy,” a nickname for defendant Aadi, who explicitly acknowledged the Gambino family's involvement in organized rigged poker games. Other texts reveal threats of violence and intimidation, highlighting the dangerous nexus between organized crime and illegal gambling.