North Suburban Man Pleads Guilty to Orchestrating $9.6 Million Fraud Scheme

CHICAGO — A north suburban man pleaded guilty today to federal fraud and tax offenses in connection with a $9.6 million fraud scheme.

ROBERT GORODETSKY, 27, of Northbrook, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.  U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo set sentencing for April 29, 2020.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. King, Jr.

Gorodetsky admitted in a plea agreement that from 2014 to 2018 he schemed to defraud an individual of approximately $9.6 million in connection with purported stock market investments and wagers on sporting events.  Gorodetsky represented himself as a successful “day trader” who would invest the individual’s money in the stock market and share in the profits, the plea agreement states.  After initially obtaining approximately $953,000 from the individual, Gorodetsky invested only $215,000 of it and pocketed the rest for his personal use, the plea agreement states.

Gorodetsky later falsely told the individual that his investments had increased to $2 million, and that the purported gains should be put toward sports wagers, according to the plea agreement.  Gorodetsky induced the individual to invest approximately $8.74 million of additional funds to wager on sports.  Gorodetsky used much of this money for purposes unrelated to sports wagering, including personal expenditures such as living expenses, travel and entertainment costs, and luxury automobiles and jewelry, the plea agreement states.  In all, Gorodetsky’s fraud scheme resulted in a loss to the individual of approximately $7.1 million.

The tax offense pertains to Gorodetsky’s failure to report the money he received from the individual as income on his tax returns, resulting in an approximate tax loss of more than $2.65 million.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the tax charge carries a maximum sentence of three years.  The Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.