Pay Per Head Business BetJerrys.com has Domain Seized

The latest gambling company to have its domain seized Tuesday was BetJerrys.com, a well established pay per head operation based out of Costa Rica.  Pay per head businesses provide a call center for bookmakers around the world.  They do not engage in money transactions typically.   

This seizure was coordinated by the Eastern District of New York and once again illustrates the need for these companies to set up domain extensions that are not based in the US.

28 people who allegedly bet into BetJerrys.com were rounded up in Staten Island today. 

Joseph Stentella, 56, had about 600 people placing bets through his sprawling operation, according to Staten Island Live. 

"Stentella boasted about his illegal gambling acumen, saying, in substance, that the State-run Off-Track Betting (‘OTB’) never would have gone out of business if the state had allowed the bookmakers to run it," reads a civil property forfeiture complaint filed today by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

"Stentella was confident of his ability to run the OTB well, stating that he ‘know(s) what (he’s) doing because (he’s) been doing this for 30 years.' "

And while this may appear to be the routine “mob-related” bust we read about every few months, this is the first time that law enforcement has seized a related domain name.

The investigation was conducted by District Attorney Daniel Donovan’s office, the NYPD’s Organized Crime Control Bureau, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Bureau, the New Jersey Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for New York’s Eastern District.

Authorities also raided Pawz & Clawz Pet Supplies at 923 Manor Rd., the former Monte’s Video, which is located in a strip mall owned by a company run by Stentella’s wife, Maryann McCue Stentella, according to SILive.com.

This is unrelated to any other investigation into online gambling.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher