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FBI agents from the Oklahoma City office placed bets with Panama City-based Legends.com (known also as Legends.com and Legendz.com) as part of a nearly 10-year investigation leading to the indictment of nearly three dozen individuals.
The betting firm, which authorities claim took in over $1 billion during that time period, has since shut down. Customer accounts were transferred to WagerWeb.com in Costa Rica.
The inquiry was known as “Operation Bad Luck”, although Legends Sports operatives appeared to be quite lucky over a 9-year span as no arrests occurred until only last month.
According to the Oklahoman, undercover employees would meet with bookie suspects at Oklahoma bingo halls, a doughnut shop, parking lots and restaurants to pay up or get paid, the records show.
“Legendz Sports solicited millions of illegal bets totaling over … one billion dollars on sports and sporting events from gamblers in the United States, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” grand jurors alleged in the indictment.
Two pioneers of the offshore sportsbook industry, Spiros Athanas and Luke King, were charged as part of the indictment. The Panamanian government later revoked Legends gaming license.
The indictment claims that Athanas invested in the sportsbook. Two years ago, he shut his own Jamaican-based bookmaking operation, TheGreek.com, off to US clientele, transferring balances to Heritage Sports.
Also from the Oklahoman:
The FBI has been investigating bookie suspects connected to Legendz Sports since at least 2004, records show.
In October 2004, an FBI agent and an Internal Revenue Service agent questioned one suspect in the parking lot of an Oklahoma City video store.
The man admitted he was waiting to pick up $1,100 from a betting client, according to an FBI report.
The two agents asked the suspect if he knew of any public officials involved in illegal gambling, according to the report.
The suspect “stated that he knew of two police officers that currently bet on sports,” according to the report. There was no further detail.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
