Extortion Among the Charges Against Three Individuals in Illegal Massachusetts Bookmaking Case
Sports betting is now legal in Massachusetts but the commonwealth's Attorney General is not having bookmaking businesses operate that engage in money laundering and other illicit activities.
Three individuals were charged with running a long-term, multi-year investigation by the AG’s Gaming Enforcement Division and the Massachusetts State Police Special Service Section (SSS) working in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In addition to the illegal bookmaking and money laundering charges, the three men are accused of loan sharking, extortion, and organized crime.
Three defendants were indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on the following charges:
Eric Rogers, age 54, of Revere
Extortion (3 counts)
Conspiracy to Commit Extortion (1 count)
Witness Intimidation (1 count)
Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Michael McMahon, age 44, of Boston
Extortion (1 count)
Conspiracy to Commit Extortion (1 count)
Organizing and Promoting Illegal Gaming (1 count)
Criminal Usury (1 count)
Money Laundering (1 count)
Registering Bets (1 count)
Conspiracy to Register Bets (1 count)
Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Brian Kelley, age 50, of Duxbury
Money Laundering (1 count)
Registering Bets (1 count)
Conspiracy to Register Bets (1 count)
Use of a Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Conspiracy to Use Telephone for Gaming (1 count)
Each must relinquish their passports.
The businesses have ties to Costa Rica, one of the leading sports betting jurisdictions.
Rogers was arrested and arraigned on the charges in Suffolk Superior Court late last week. He was being held on $75,000 cash bail. Once released, he will be monitored via a GPS device.
The AG’s Office alleges that from 2017 to 2019, the 44-year-old McMahon ran a large-scale illegal bookmaking enterprise that generated between $1 million to $2 million annually. Bets were placed through a website based out of Costa Rica.
The AG’s Office alleges that Kelley was an employee of the gaming company who collected cash payments from illegal bookmakers, including McMahon, then delivered large bundles of U.S. currency in person via flights to the Central American nation, a popular tourism getaway for those in the U.S. and Canada.
Kelley is alleged to have laundered money through various residential properties. McMahon is alleged to have made more than $234,000 in cash payments to Kelley over a 20-month period.
The AG’s Office alleges that Rogers collected two extortion payments of $10,000 in 2019 from McMahon in exchange for the right to operate an illegal book with permission from a larger, organized criminal syndicate.
The AG’s Office also claims that Rogers and McMahon extorted a bettor under McMahon’s illegal bookmaking enterprise who initially refused to pay a debt. They are alleged to have threatening violence against the gambler.
It should be noted that Massachusetts new sports betting law will likely drive individuals towards bookmakers operating in the commonwealth as state sanctioned betting sites will be prohibited from taking bets using a credit card. Bookmakers typically building their customer bases through word of mouth and offer bets on credit. Very few bookmakers actually have ties to organized crime.
Sites like Gambling911.com have long warned of the perils of doing business with these types of enterprises.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
