Assaf "Ace" Waknine (U.S. Department of Justice).
An alleged Israeli mobster is accused of acting as the muscle behind a network of high-stakes poker games in California, where players forked over a $20,000 buy-in to rub elbows with celebrities and athletes in swanky Los Angeles-area homes.
But entering the games came with risks as high as the stakes: One man associated with the games was murdered while others had their Bentley and home torched, according to authorities.
Those who failed to pay their debts allegedly received threats from an Israeli national named Assaf "Ace" Waknine, with an extensive criminal history. Last week, Waknine was charged in federal court with transmitting threatening communications in interstate and foreign commerce. The suspect, who was deported from the United States in 2011, is believed to have been in Mexico while allegedly sending the threatening messages.
A 35-page criminal complaint by the Department of Homeland Security goes into detail about the exclusive poker games that gained steam during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the affidavit, many of the games were held in mansions with a party-like atmosphere, complete with DJs, chefs and waitresses who were models or social media influencers.
The victim hosted several of these poker games and was apparently on the hook for some players' debts, according to the complaint. There were at least two incidents of violence that occurred at the games the victim hosted. In May 2023, two suspects set a Bentley SUV on fire and then fired several shots into the home, narrowly missing those inside. The same suspects also threw a Molotov cocktail at another house that hosted a game, according to the complaint.
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The games came to light after the June 2023 murder of a man named Emile Lahaziel, who attended one of these games at a home in Hollywood Hills. Although Waknine is not charged in connection with the murder, he is accused of threatening the host of a connected poker game with meeting a demise like Lahaziel, the feds say. Lahaziel had previously played at some of the games the victim hosted.
Two people have been charged with murder in Lahaziel's death and are awaiting trial.
Several months after the murder, in January 2024, Waknine allegedly sent the victim a series of text messages. The victim ignored the messages and calls, saying he didn't know Waknine and was in a meeting, the complaint said.
"F— your meeting," Waknine allegedly said to the man identified in court documents as Victim-1.
One minute later, the complaint alleges Waknine sent the following message: "Ok [Victim-1] I guess you really Want to end up like your other b— a— poker budd."
Waknine was additionally accused of threatening others associated with the games.
"Listen good motherf—er," he allegedly wrote. "We explained to you in a very direct manner don't f— us."
The complaint said Waknine and his brother would hire Southern California gang members to "serve as their enforcers and extortionate debt collectors." The complaint does not accuse Waknine of ordering a hit on Lahaziel, but believes he was "at minimum" aware of the murder.
Waknine's lawyer, in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, denied the allegations.
