Poker racketeer 'used mixed martial arts fighters to collect debts for $100million gambling operation linked to Russian mafia'

Kirill Rapoport used threats of violence to scare losers, say prosecutors

Faces jail after pleading guilty to running illegal poker games in New York

Found with brass knuckles and an inoperable gun in his apartment

One of more than 30 people arrested in April over $100m gambling racket

A Brooklyn thug hired two mixed martial arts fighters to help him collect a debt from a poker player for a $100million gambling racket linked to Russian mobsters.



Federal prosecutors say Kiril Rapoport, 41, used threats of violence to force losers to pay up.

He has pleaded guilty to running poker games in Manhattan after being one of more than 30 people charged in April over the illegal gambling operation.

He is expected to face at least six months behind bars.

A debt collector used two mix martial arts fighters to help him scare losers in an illegal poker racket into paying up, prosecutors have said (file picture of fighters not connected with the case)

When he was arrested, he was found with brass knuckles in his chest of drawers and an inoperable gun in his apartment.

'These weapons are the tools of the trade for an "enforcer" who threatens the use of force to collect debts,' prosecutors said in the presenting letter for his sentencing on Thursday, according to the New York Daily News.

They say Rapoport worked with Arthur Azen, 44, from Staten Island, who admitted money laundering, conspiracy and extortionate credit collection last month.

'He (Rapoport) was not a dealer or a bartender. His job was to make sure that bettors at Azen's illegal poker games and bettors of Azen's sports book paid their debts,' the letter adds.



Kiril Rapoport was one of more than 30 people charged in April over the $100million gambling operation in Manhattan (file picture)

Prosecutors say Rapoport and Azen were accompanied by two MMA fighters when they were spotted by FBI agents in October last year meeting a poker player 'who appeared to be delinquent in paying his debts'.

Concerned they may harm the player, but not wishing to blow their cover, the agents asked the New York City Police Department to intervene on the pretense they had reports of someone smoking marijuana in the area, the letter said.

The player later admitted he owed $35,000 to $40,000.



Rapoport's lawyer Jay Schwitzman claimed in August that his client had been targeted by the feds because of his Russian background.