A man previously tagged as a “mob associate” by law enforcement is accused in a new federal indictment of conspiring to dodge taxes through the use of “sham” companies — and then marrying his 80-year-old girlfriend to thwart her grand jury testimony.
Robert “Bobby” Dominic, 70, is charged with a conspiracy to defraud the United States, tax evasion and failing to file tax returns in the 19-page indictment made public Tuesday.
The charges are the latest tied to the legally gray area of sweepstakes machines. The devices look and operate like typical video gambling machines, but they’re unregulated and largely untaxed thanks to loopholes in Illinois’ gaming laws.
The machines most prominently played a role in the prosecution of former state Rep. Luis Arroyo and businessman James T. Weiss, who were both sentenced to roughly five years in prison on bribery charges related to the sweepstakes industry.
Weiss’ brother, Joseph Weiss, was also sentenced to two months behind bars for lying to the FBI and IRS about James Weiss’ ties to the late Chicago mobster Frank “The German” Schweihs. James Weiss adamantly denied any such ties.
Now, Dominic is accused of hiding his income from the feds by having companies involved with sweepstakes gambling pay him more than $500,000 through “sham” companies.
The indictment alleges that two sweepstakes companies paid nearly $900,000 to one “sham” company between October 2014 and January 2020, even though it provided no services. The sole member of the company was Dominic’s girlfriend, it says, who died Jan. 4, 2020.
The next month, a second “sham” company was formed, according to the indictment. The sole shareholder of that company is identified only as an “Individual B” who became Dominic’s girlfriend some time before Sept. 30, 2024, the feds say. That business also performed no services for the sweepstakes companies, according to prosecutors.
However, the feds say Dominic did work and provided services to the sweepstakes companies. Prosecutors claim Dominic “used nominees to receive income on his behalf” from the sweepstakes companies and prompted them to enter into a bogus deal to hide his income.
Dominic did not file individual income tax returns — or report any income — for the years 2020 and 2021, according to the indictment. The document then goes on to list more than $500,000 in payments Dominic caused the sweepstakes companies to pay to the second “sham” business in 2020 and 2021, “to conceal and avoid reporting his income to the Internal Revenue Service.”
“Individual B” was also subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury last year and was informed that prosecutors would seek an order compelling her testimony, according to the indictment.
However, it says “Dominic and Individual B (who at the time was approximately 80 years old) got married in order to prevent Individual B from testifying under oath.”
The Chicago Sun-Times previously reported that Dominic was identified by law enforcement as a “mob associate” for his involvement in enterprises involving organized crime such as adult bookstores and peep shows.