More Arrests Possible in Billion Dollar Sports Betting Case Tied to Legends
A promised superseding indictment by the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma related to a billion dollar sports betting ring was expected to be handed down in the coming days, quite possibly in conjunction with the start of the 2013 NCAA College Football season by week’s end.
Thirty-four individuals and 23 entities from across the US and the country of Panama have already been indicted.
Legendz Sports, a once prominent fixture in the offshore betting scene, was named along with several of the company’s executives in the first indictment back in March. That business has since shut down with clients accounts transferred to Costa Rican-based WagerWeb.com.
That indictment alleged Legends Sports solicited millions of illegal bets totaling more than $1 billion. It was later revealed that undercover agents placed bets with Legends and that Skype conversations were wiretapped.
The probe into Legends grew out of a New York State former Drug Interdiction Unit to include the FBI and Internal Revenue Service and ultimately “led to authorities spending hundreds of hours eavesdropping as they built their case against what they call a major multimillion-dollar illegal gambling enterprise”. The investigation was ongoing for nearly ten years.
“These defendants allegedly participated in an illegal sports gambling business, lining their pockets with profits from over a billion dollars in illegal gambling proceeds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.
“The defendants cannot hide the allegedly illegal sports gambling operation behind corporate veils or state and international boundaries,” said U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats.
Legends Sports, while based in Panama City, Panama, allegedly relied heavily on a network of agents located within the US to collect funds from and make payments to gamblers.
Specific details of the superseding indictment were not immediately known nor is it clear that additional arrests will be made though sources close to Gambling911.com suggest this is probable. Some of the original defendants have since entered guilty pleas.
Law enforcement agencies typically wait for high profile events such as the start of the new American football season or Super Bowl to commence raids and act on arrest warrants.
During the last Super Bowl, Canadian police used the opportunity to raid a Super Bowl party outside of Montreal hosted by the offshore sports betting company PlatinumSB. The RCMP claimed that business was a front for organized crime.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
