57 Charged With Operating Illegal Sports Betting Ring
From FBI Oklahoma Division….It is not immediately known if individuals arrested earlier in the day from Albany, New York were tied to this matter. Both men were charged with their role in an extensive sports betting ring with arrests that were taking place thoughout the country Wednesday. This story is very fluid....
Head man of TheGreek.com also named in indictment.
Read the 95 page indictment here
Thirty-four individuals and 23 entities have been indicted and accused of operating an illegal sports bookmaking business that solicited more than $1 billion in illegal bets, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Sanford C. Coats.
Legendz Sports out of Panama City, Panama is named in the indictment along with other individuals connected to the sports betting operation.
The indictment alleges that Legendz Sports sought to maximize the number of gamblers who opened wagering accounts by offering both “post-up” betting, which requires a bettor to first set up and fund an account before placing bets and “credit” betting, which allow the bettor to place a wager without depositing money in advance through face-to-face meetings with bookies or agents.
The indictment alleges that Legendz Sports solicited millions of illegal bets totaling more than $1 billion.
“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. “Today’s charges demonstrate that we are as determined as ever to hold accountable those involved in facilitating illegal online gambling by U.S. citizens, regardless of where the business operates or where the defendants reside.”
“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. “I thank the IRS and FBI for their diligent work over several years to investigate this billion dollar international gambling enterprise.”
“Individuals cannot skirt the laws of the United States by setting up illegal Internet gambling operations in a foreign country while living in the United States and enjoying all the benefits of U.S. citizens,” said Jim Finch, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to be diligent in investigating such violations of federal law.”
“Combining the financial investigative expertise of the IRS with the skills and resources of the FBI makes a formidable team for combating major, greed-driven crimes,” said Andrea D. Whelan, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent in Charge. “This massive indictment is the result of our highly effective law enforcement partnership.”
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Dickerson Cox and William Lee Borden, Jr. from the Western District of Oklahoma and Trial Attorney John S. Han with the Department of Justice Criminal Division Organized Crime and Gang Section.
For concerned Gambling911.com readers, it should be noted that Legends Sports principals have not travelled back and forth to the US in several years to the best of our knowledge. The company is highly regarded and is not likely to be affected by these indictments. All players funds should be safe.
Gambling911.com will continue to monitor this situation as it develops and we will try to reach out to Legendz Sports.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
