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NEW YORK (Associated Press) — More than a dozen reputed members of New York’s infamous Genovese crime family have been arrested on a slew of charges stemming from a bust dubbed “Operation Shark Bait.”
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office says the 13 mobsters indicted Thursday were part of a lucrative illegal offshore gambling ring that also trapped victims in loan schemes.
The defendants allegedly ran the multimillion-dollar gambling operation through a wire room in Costa Rica that handled wagers on college and professional sports.
Schneiderman says the group’s loansharking business charged “outrageous” interest rates on loans that were impossible to repay.
Investigators captured much of the suspects’ alleged illegal interactions through intercepted conversations.
Two mobsters were also charged with evading state taxes for selling more than 30,000 illegal cigarettes in New York.
