A 52-year-old Israeli man living in Mexico has been indicted in the United States on charges of threatening the host of high-stakes poker games in Beverly Hills and demanding thousands of dollars in what prosecutors say was an extortion scheme tied to underground gambling.
Federal prosecutors allege that Assaf “Ace” Waknine, an Israeli national deported from the U.S. in 2011, sent threatening messages to a Los Angeles poker organizer and sought regular payments of about $5,000 per game.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court in California, Waknine invoked the 2023 killing of Emil Lahaziel, an Israeli man shot and killed after leaving a poker game in the Hollywood Hills, to pressure the game host into paying him. “I guess you really want to end up like your other b— a— poker buddy,” Waknine allegedly wrote in a message, according to the filing.
The indictment charges Waknine with transmitting threatening communications in interstate and foreign commerce. He is not in custody and is believed to be living in Mexico.
His attorney, Brett Greenfield, said his client denies making any threats or extortion attempts. “That’s just not what he does,” Greenfield said.
Investigators say Waknine sought “protection” payments from private poker games held in luxury homes across Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, where tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars could change hands in a single night. The gatherings typically included professional dealers, security guards, chefs, cocktail waitresses, models, and social media influencers, prosecutors said.
Court documents describe a series of violent incidents surrounding the poker network, including arsons and shootings at properties linked to game organizers. Two weeks after one such fire, Lahaziel was fatally shot as he left a mansion that had hosted a game.
Lahaziel, 39, had a criminal record in Israel and substantial debts. According to investigators, he regularly exchanged messages with Hai Waknine, Assaf’s brother, about luxury watches and cars — items described by prosecutors as tools for money laundering and informal debt repayment.
Shortly before his death, Lahaziel sent “inflammatory and threatening messages” to the Waknine brothers over financial disputes, according to court filings.
Lahaziel's murder in 2023
(Video: KTLA 5)
Hai Waknine previously served six years in a U.S. federal prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and extortion involving funds embezzled from an Israeli bank. Investigators wrote that the brothers “leveraged their longstanding reputations for violence to promote a climate of fear” within Los Angeles’ Israeli community.
On the night Lahaziel was killed, he was playing poker at a private home when two men arrived in a stolen Dodge truck, called him outside, and shot him in the face and neck. Both suspects were charged with murder, and their case is still pending. Prosecutors allege that Assaf Waknine later used the killing as a warning to others who refused to pay him.
In another exchange cited in the affidavit, when the poker host told Waknine he was busy and asked to be left alone, Waknine replied, “F— your meeting.” The organizer shut down his games soon afterward. Prosecutors say Waknine managed his operations from Mexico, overseeing debt collection and intimidation among the Los Angeles Israeli community and relying on his family’s notoriety to enforce compliance.
Waknine has prior convictions for assault, burglary, forgery, and illegal wiretapping. He was deported from the United States after being convicted of cloning a Los Angeles police detective’s pager and listening to the officer’s phone calls.
In Israel, he was a co-owner of the Tel Aviv modeling agency Roberto, which became a hub for nightlife and celebrity culture. An investigative television report later alleged that the agency was used by underworld figures to collect debts and settle disputes.
Waknine’s flamboyant image inspired a recurring character on Israel’s popular satire show Eretz Nehederet (“A Wonderful Country”), where he was portrayed as a flashy, over-the-top gangster.
He was later questioned but not convicted in Israel’s Trade Bank money-laundering affair involving Gabi Ben Harush and his brother Hai. In recent interviews, Waknine has boasted about defrauding Americans of millions of dollars and called himself “the king of Cancun.”
If convicted of transmitting threatening communications, Waknine faces up to five years in federal prison. Although the United States and Mexico have an extradition treaty, the proceedings against him are moving forward without his extradition, according to prosecutors.