An alleged Israeli mobster believed to be living in Mexico since being deported from the U.S. in 2011 is facing federal extortion charges in connection with a network of private high-stakes poker games in Los Angeles, according to multiple media reports.
In an affidavit filed in federal court last week, Assaf “Ace” Waknine is accused of referencing the 2023 murder of Emil Lahaziel, 39, at a private Hollywood Hills poker game during an alleged attempt to blackmail the host of another weekly game where the buy-in began at $20,000, and players were known to win or lose millions in a single night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Israeli national was reportedly demanding $5,000 a game in “protection” fees.
“I guess you really want to end up like your other b**** a** poker buddy,” the affidavit claims Waknine said in a text message after the host refused to pay.
“I don’t know who you are and I’m in a meeting,” the victim of the alleged extortion scheme said before hanging up on Waknine.
“F*** your meeting,” Waknine reportedly texted back.
Homeland Security Investigations special agent Matthew Hernandez, who filed the affidavit, wrote that Waknine was tied to a “cottage industry” of private high-dollar poker games that gained momentum during COVID-19 and included players ranging from “A-list celebrities to wealthy entrepreneurs to professional and amateur poker players.”
The unidentified victim Waknine attempted to blackmail, according to the feds, hosted a game that included cocktail waitresses who were often models or influencers on social media, bartenders, chefs, valets, DJs and private security guards, The Times reported.
The host reportedly made his money by taxing 50% of the staff’s tips and could make in excess of $100,000 a night, the affidavit stated.
But violence started becoming a problem in May 2023 when a series of arsons occurred outside some of the big-money card games.
A Beverly Hills home that had hosted a game was set on fire on May 21, 2023, according to Hernandez. A Bentley SUV parked outside a Benedict Canyon home where a game was underway got torched, and shots were fired at the house just a few days later. That followed a Molotov cocktail thrown at a car in Encino, tied to one of the games that ignited both the car and the residence.
Two weeks later, Lahaziel, an Israeli native with a “lengthy” criminal history and ties to Waknine and his brother, Hai Waknine, according to the affidavit, was fatally shot in the neck and face outside a home where he’d been playing in one of the games.
Not long before his murder, Lahaziel had been writing “inflammatory and threatening messages” to the Waknine brothers, Hernandez said in the court document.
Ricardo Corral, a convicted felon and alleged gunman, along with Jose Martinez Sanchez, were charged in connection with the shooting, The Times reported. Both have pleaded not guilty.
According to the HSI agent, the Waknine brothers, who both have several felony convictions, were known to develop “connections with individuals affiliated with the Mexican Mafia in Southern California, as well as connections with historically Black gangs including the Crips, whom they use as enforcers and collectors for their extortion schemes,” the outlet Poker News reported.
Hai Waknine has not been charged in the most recent extortion case against his brother, who, as of now, is not in custody.
According to Special Agent Hernandez, the victim never paid Waknine any money, but cancelled the scheduled card game, telling his security guard, “I just don’t want to deal with that s***.”
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