Published on Thursday, January 15, 2026
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A U.S. man who ran a business in Costa Rica pleaded guilty to money laundering, tax evasion and operating an illegal gambling business, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Feinman, of Calabasas, California, U.S.A., operated a Costa Rica-based business that provided services to unlicensed and illegal gambling operations.

The business ran a website that allowed those gambling operations to facilitate betting by their customers, including customers living in California.

Prosecutors said Feinman’s website enabled customers to place bets through platforms he maintained, an activity that is illegal under both state and federal law.

Authorities said Feinman laundered the proceeds of the illegal gambling business by exchanging cash for checks made payable to himself or to one of his businesses.

Between May 2018 and January 2024, Feinman provided more than $1.5 million in cash to one customer and received 18 checks in return totaling the same amount. Overall, he exchanged between $1.5 million and $3.5 million in cash for checks, according to the Justice Department.

In addition, between 2018 and 2022, Feinman knowingly failed to report income from the illegal gambling business on his tax returns and did not pay taxes owed on that income, prosecutors said. Authorities said he concealed up to $4 million in income from the government.

 

Despite earning $1.8 million in income in 2020, Feinman reported no taxable income on his tax return and paid no federal income tax for that year, according to court records.

In total, Feinman caused a tax loss to the United States of more than $1.5 million, authorities said.

Feinman is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the money laundering charge and up to five years in prison for the tax evasion and illegal gambling charges, according to Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
 

A federal district court judge will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation’s International Tax and Financial Crimes group and the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Trial Attorneys John C. Gerardi and Charles A. O’Reilly of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division Tax Section are prosecuting the case.

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