#23. Marking the Cards and Stacking The Deck (2009)
In 2009, Russian mobsters launched a high-stakes poker game in Trump Tower that also served as massive money laundering operation right under the nose of the man who now occupies the White House.
Donald Trump’s first known connection to the Russian Mafia took place when he sold five condos to David Bogatin for $6 million in an all cash deal, with Trump personally attending the transaction in 1984, just a year after Trump Tower opened its doors(see Trump’s Russian Laundromat). A Soviet émigré with direct ties to the Russian Mafia, Bogatin was a known associate of Semion Mogilevich, the billionaire “Brainy Don” who was a wizard at money laundering and made the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
That sale was the beginning of a longterm relationship that became increasingly important to Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s, as Trump’s access to U.S. banks dried up following multiple bankruptcies. Instead of traditional banking relationship, Trump became increasingly reliant on capital from post-Soviet oligarchs and shell companies. Thanks to lax regulations on the real estate industry, from Manhattan to Florida, Trump-branded buildings—often sold anonymously in all-cash transactions— became ideal vehicles for laundering enormous amounts of money.
By 2009, the pattern had been well established and another shadowy transaction took place inside Trump Tower—this one involving two figures connected to Russian organized crime. One of them was Vadim Trincher, a high-stakes gambler later convicted of running an international gambling and money laundering ring, who purchased a $5 million condo in Trump Tower from Russian oligarch Oleg Boyko.
As I wrote in House of Trump, House of Putin:
In May 2009, Boyko sold his Trump Tower apartment to Vadim Trincher, a high-sakes poker player whois a dual citizen of Israel and the US, for $5 million. According to an FBI analysis of the purchase, “the funds used to buy the apartment moved through shell companies Trincher maintained in Cypus….[A]ccording ot The Smoking Gun, the apartment, with its twenty-four karat gold faucets, alabaster walls crafted by Portuguese artisans, and $350,000 bathroom floor made of amethyst imported from Tanzania,had become one of the most ostentatious apartments in what was already one of the most ostentatious buildings in America. (Which did not mean it was terrifically livable.
The apartment soon became the command center of Trincher’s sprawling criminal enterprise, which stretched from New York to Moscow and ultimately involved more than 30 co-conspirators in what federal prosecutors described as a transnational racketeering conspiracy. In addition to the Russian mobsters, one of the defendants was Molly Bloom, the notorious Hollywood “poker madam” who. became known for hosting games for celebrity poker players such as DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, which provided the storyline for the movie, Molly’s Game.
Boyko, the seller, was no ordinary property owner. He had bought the Trump Tower unit in 1994, just as waves of post-Soviet capital were pouring into Western real estate markets. A Kremlin-linked billionaire known for funneling money through opaque offshore networks, Boyko has long been suspected of working with or for Russia’s FSB intelligence service. His name later surfaced in the Panama Papers, as well as in Ukrainian sanctions lists for his financial support of Kremlin-linked enterprises.
With total lifetime poker winnings of $1,230,262, Trincher, meanwhile, had spent years cultivating a reputation in elite poker circles, hosting high-stakes underground games for oligarchs, celebrities, and Wall Street financiers. But behind the glamour, he was laundering tens of millions of dollars through a complex web of shell companies, financial fronts, and real estate deals—much of it flowing directly through Trump Tower.
The FBI later described Trincher’s operation as part of a broader criminal network overseen by Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a Russian mob boss (Vor v Zakone) known as “Taiwanchik.” In 2013, Taiwanchik appeared in the VIP section of the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, an event Trump co-owned and personally attended, even though he was under indictment in the US at the time.
The investigation into Trincher’s gambling ring also swept up Trump Tower resident and prominent New York art dealer Hillel “Helly” Nahmad, whose apartment and gallery were used to launder proceeds from the illegal gambling empire. In a move that raised eyebrows, Trump pardoned Nahmad in January 2021 during his final hours in office.
Another Trincher associate, Anatoly Golubchik, also convicted in the case, owned property in Trump‘s Sunny Isles Beach in Florida—another Trump-branded property with a reputation as a haven for Russian all-cash buyers, many of them linked to criminal networks.
But Trincher wasn’t just laundering money—he was also insinuating himself into Republican political circles. In 2011, he planned to host a fundraiser for GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in his Trump Tower apartment. The event was abruptly canceled, not because of Trincher’s criminal ties, but because of a mold infestation in the unit. Russian operatives were buying access to Trump properties and to American politicians. The fact that a Kremlin-linked criminal like Trincher nearly hosted a fundraiser for a GOP presidential candidate shows how deeply Russia had embedded itself in both Trump’s orbit and the Republican Party.
The 2009 Trump Tower sale between Oleg Boyko and Vadim Trincher was not an anomaly—it was a continuation of a pattern that began with David Bogatin in 1984 and ran through a generation of Russian oligarchs, mobsters, and intermediaries. These deals were part of a systemic pipeline—one that helped inject Kremlin-linked money and influence into Trump’s orbit long before he ran for president.
And like so many episodes in Trump’s entanglement with Russia, the surface story—a luxury real estate sale and a high-stakes poker game—was merely a front for something far more corrosive: a laundering operation of cash, power, and access that operated right under the nose of the man who now occupies the Oval Office.
Cast of Characters:
Vadim Trincher
High-stakes gambler and convicted ringleader of a sprawling transnational gambling and money laundering operation run by the Russian mafia. Ran his criminal enterprise out of a $5 million condo in Trump Tower, located directly above Donald Trump’s penthouse. Attempted to host a fundraiser for Newt Gingrich in 2011.
Oleg Boyko
Russian oligarch who sold the Trump Tower condo to Trincher in 2009. Bought the unit in 1994. Known for his ties to the Kremlin, offshore financial networks, and long-suspected connections to Russian intelligence. Sanctioned by Ukraine for supporting Kremlin-linked enterprises.
Alimzhan “Taiwanchik” Tokhtakhounov
Russian mob boss and fugitive wanted by U.S. authorities. Allegedly oversaw Trincher’s criminal network from abroad. Appeared in the VIP section at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow—an event co-owned and attended by Donald Trump.
Hillel “Helly” Nahmad
Wealthy New York art dealer and Trump Tower resident. Used his apartment and gallery to help launder proceeds from Trincher’s illegal gambling network. Pardoned by Donald Trump in his final hours in office in January 2021.
Anatoly Golubchik
One of Trincher’s top lieutenants. Convicted in the same racketeering case. Owned property in Trump Sunny Isles Beach, another Trump-branded property known for cash sales to Russian buyers.
If you have tips, leads, or insights, please reach out—I am always looking for new information. And don’t forget to comment and share your thoughts!
For the complete story on how Trump became a Russian asset, buy House of Trump, House of Putin, and/or American Kompromat. And don’t miss my latest book, Den of Spies!
House of Trump, House of Putin
The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia
American Kompromat
How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery
Den of Spies
Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House
Why wasn’t the public made aware of this? it is now our responsibility snd duty to SHARE this information.
when will this scenario be made into a movie?