Twin River Exec, 2 Others Charged In Bribery, Tax Evasion Scheme

LINCOLN, RI — Three people were indicted by the Rhode Island Grand Jury in connection with a bribery scheme involving a top official with Twin River's parent company. A casino vendor is accused of paying the executive for leases with food court vendors and other business contracts.

On Thursday, the Grand Jury indicted Yehuda Amar, a casino vendor, Michael Barlow, the senior vice president of operations at Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc. and Jill Feldman, Amar's business associate.

According to the indictment, Amar is accused of bribing Barlow for the business contracts, going as far back as 2007. That year, Barlow recruited Amar to open a Haagen Dazs ice cream shop in the Twin River food court.

In 2012, the pair bought several properties, both residential and commercial, in New London, Connecticut. Barlow borrowed $340,000 to purchase and renovate the properties. According to the indictment, he then used his position with the company to bring Amar vendors and business contracts in exchange for debt relief from 2012 to 2014.

In June 2008, Feldman registered Shai RI, Inc. with the Rhode Island Secretary of State. Amar and Feldman, the principal owners of the company, did not file corporate tax returns from 2016 to 2018, despite earning income from their subleases. During those years, the pair also did not report their business income and filed false personal income returns, the indictment alleges. Amar additionally did not file corporate tax returns in Rhode Island during that period.

"The crimes alleged in the indictment not only harm legitimate business owners, but hurt the business climate in our state," Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said. "Illicit deals and the crimes alleged disadvantage those businesses who play by the rules and create an unfair competitive playing field. I appreciate the hard work of the Rhode Island State Police and their partnership during this investigation."

In all, Amar, Barlow and Feldman were charged with 30 felony counts including bribery, obtaining money under false pretenses and tax evasion, broken down as follows. All three are set to be arraigned in Providence Superior Court on Tuesday.

Michael Barlow

• Accepting a bribe, four counts
• Obtaining money under false pretenses, three counts
• Conspiracy to obtain property under false pretenses, three counts
• Casino gaming crimes and providing false information, two counts

Yehuda Amar

• Bribery, four counts
• Obtaining money under false pretenses, three counts
• Conspiracy to obtain property under false pretenses, three counts
• Failure to file corporate tax, six counts
• Filing a fraudulent personal income tax return, four counts
• Failure to file a personal income tax return, one count

Jill Feldman

• Failure to file corporate tax, three counts
• Filing a fraudulent personal income tax return,two counts
• Failure to file a personal income tax return, one count