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Authorities in Staten Island and Brooklyn are closing in on dozens of Gambino mobsters involved in running a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring, specifically sports betting, according to the New York Daily News.
The two-year investigation is focusing on a high-tech operation that used text-messaging, BlackBerrys and other sophisticated devices, and stretched from New York to Aruba to Costa Rica.
Prosecutors used extensive wiretaps and surveillance and issued dozens of search warrants in the last month alone, sources said.
Those named in the investigation include alleged Gambino mobsters Pietro Inzerillo and Joseph Lanni, who operate the website Touchdownbets.com. Other online gambling domain names owned by individuals tied into the investigation include Bet1010.com and NYSportsWager.com.
"These are made guys, major [players] in the Gambino family," a law enforcement source said.
Alfredo (Dark Al) Correa and Gerard Bruzzese control nysportswager.com, the largest of the three sites, court documents show.
Correa's lawyer denied the charges to the Daily News.
"I don't think he's connected to the mob and he denies the allegations," lawyer Joseph Mure said.
The Daily News also published excerpts of alleged phone conversations between the accused.
"I told him make me an offer," Anthony Falco, who operated www.bet1010.com, said to his father, Lewis Falco, about a gambler who apparently owed money.
"Yeah, he wants the big bucks, tell him to go f--- himself," the elder Falco responded.
Bruzzese, on one of the tapes, was caught schooling a young bookmaker on collecting a payment.
"The first rule I got to teach you is that when somebody has money for you, go get it....You're all excited, but that's how they're supposed to pay. I got guys who lose $15,000 and they pay me in full no problem."
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
