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A popular Costa Rican based online sports betting company, Jazz Sportsbook, has been implicated in an alleged $178M sting led by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown as part of a three year investigation into illegal bookmaking.
Arrests occurred in New York City, Louisiana, Florida and Nevada involving agents and bookies.
Brown has spearheaded a number of criminal investigations into offshore sports betting over the years.
One of those arrested was William Bryant III, the premium sales manager for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. The team said Bryant was acting alone.
Prosecutors said Robert Baselice and Charles Cicalo, both from Staten Island, worked as bookmakers on crownsports.com and jazzsports.com, employing agents and other people to collect and disburse money.
Jazz is one of the pioneers of the Costa Rican offshore sports betting scene. Its presence online, however, is somewhat nominal though the company does enjoy pivotal search placement with some terms on Google. The company is known for its operation of small land-based casinos in the Central American nation. Normal business operations are not likely to be impacted by this case.
More cash and millions of dollars in property were seized after more than a dozen search warrants were executed in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Louisiana.
"Such computerized wire rooms operate around the clock and can handle a large volume of bettors at any one time, thus allowing the organizers to increase their illicit profits without having to bother with the time-consuming, record-keeping aspects of a more traditional, paper-based bookmaking operation," Brown said. "Unfortunately for the defendants, the law enforcement community is just as adept in using new technology to stop those involved in such criminal pursuits."
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
