New York Post

You'd better hurry, Helly!

Gambling-ring convict’s curfew rush

- By RICH CALDER and BOB FREDERICKS rcalder@nypost.com

Billionair­e art dealer Helly Nahmad — out of prison after serving time for running a celebstudd­ed gambling ring — ducked for cover outside the West Village hot spot Da Silvano as he was spotted in public this week for the first time since his release.

The newly sprung Nahmad, 36, partied with 1Oak coowner Richie Akiva, sources told The Post.

He then shielded his face with his hand as he hustled to his chauffeurd­riven Mercedes at about 11 p.m. to head back to a seedy halfway house in The Bronx where he now stays under the terms of his release.

The admitted gambling addict — whose $100 million ring drew such celebs as Leonardo DiCaprio and Alex Rodriguez — made it back to the facility in Fordham before his carriage turned into a pumpkin, signing in for his 11:30 curfew.

“Helly Nahmad was in full compliance with the schedule authorized by the halfway house that required him to return by 11:30 p.m.,” attorney Ben Brafman told The Post.

“The records of the halfway house show that he was signed back in at 11:25 p.m. He has never violated any of the regulation­s of the [Bureau of Prisons] or the halfway house.”

Nahmad was sprung from the federal pen in Otisville, Orange County, this month after serving just five months of a yearandada­y sentence.

The son of art dealer David Nahmad forked over $6.4 million and the rights to the 1937 painting “Carnaval à Nice” by French artist Raoul Dufy as part of his plea agreement.

The highstakes gambling operation relied on illegal gambling Web sites that handled tens of millions of dollars in sports bets since 2012, prosecutor­s said at his May sentencing in Manhattan federal court.

He ran the ring with reputed Russian mobster Illya Trincher, 53, who was sentenced to five years behind bars.

Nahmad had asked for probation so he could repay his debt to society by teaching art to underprivi­leged children.

But Judge Jesse Furman said that if Nahmad was really interested in giving back to others, he would have begun such a program long before he was sentenced.

Nahmad runs the Nahmad Gallery at the Carlyle Hotel, a seller of works by Chagall, Warhol and other top artists.

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