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Online Gaming Software Company Generated At Least $2.3 Million in Profits
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of ROBERT STUART, 53, SUSANNE STUART, 50, PATRICK READ, 53, and EXTENSION SOFTWARE, INC. (“EXTENSION”), an Arizona-based software company, for promoting and profiting from online gaming software that provides online sports books the infrastructure to run illegal bookmaking operations for a variety of sports, including professional and college football and basketball, as well as baseball, hockey, horse-racing, and soccer. The defendants are each charged in the indictment with one count of Promoting Gambling in the First Degree.[1]
“These defendants abetted large-scale illegal gambling in the U.S. and abroad,” said District Attorney Vance. “In doing so, they gave bettors an easy way to place illegal wagers, and created an appetite for further unlawful activity.”
According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, EXTENSION created and supported online gaming software called Action Sportsbook International (“ASI”), which allowed bookmakers to select the sporting events they would offer in their illegal bookmaking operations and manage their operations from offshore locations, such as Costa Rica, the Caribbean, and Canada. In order to use ASI, bookmakers paid a quarterly licensing fee to EXTENSION for an access key. For continued access, the bookmakers would make payments on the quarterly invoices they received from EXTENSION.
EXTENSION customers paid the licensing fee in three ways: (i) by U.S. and International wire transfers directly into EXTENSION’s bank accounts; (ii) by cash deposits made into EXTENSION’s domestic bank accounts; and (iii) by money orders deposited directly into EXTENSION’s bank accounts. The overwhelming majority of the approximately $1.1 million cash and $1.2 million in money orders deposited into EXTENSION’s bank accounts are alleged to be direct proceeds of illegal, U.S.-based bookmaking operations, including operations that conducted their activities in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York State, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. The investigation into this case continues.
According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, ROBERT STUART has served as EXTENSION’s Vice President since 2005 and developed ASI’s software. He created software upgrades and provided technical support to bookmakers when they had problems. His wife, SUSANNE STUART, was EXTENSION’s President and bookkeeper. She was in charge of preparing the quarterly invoices and tracking which customers paid for the use of the access key. Her brother, PATRICK READ, was EXTENSION’s customer service representative, who was in charge of maintaining customer relations and relaying customer concerns to the company. Additionally, READ was in charge of recruiting new customers for EXTENSION.
Assistant District Attorneys Michael Gates and Carey Ng of the Rackets Bureau are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Daniel D. Brownell, Chief of the Rackets Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel, Chief of the Organized Crime Unit. Supervising Rackets Investigator Jeremy Rosenberg, Senior Rackets Investigators Ariela DaSilva, Daniel Frooks, and Joseph Lamendola of the Investigation Bureau assisted in the investigation. Supervising Account Investigator Evelyn Serrano of the Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations Unit also assisted in the investigation. Trial Preparation Assistants Evan Omi, Willimina Bromer, and Tony Cheng also provided assistance.
Defendant information:
ROBERT STUART, D.O.B. 12/30/58 Pine, AZ
SUSANNE STUART, D.O.B. 10/23/62 Pine, AZ
PATRICK READ, D.O.B. 6/9/59 Marietta, GA
EXTENSION SOFTWARE Pine, AZ
Charge:
Promoting Gambling in the First Degree, a class E felony, 1 count
