US Nabs Web Gambling Agents

Here is a story that seems to be slipping under the radar. I couldn’t tell if they operated the casino or not. My interpretation, based on the fact that they get a % of losses, is that they were offline affiliates. IMHO, I think affiliates doing offline stuff (i.e. face-to-face) are more likely to get in trouble.

http://www.gambling911.com/US-Nabs-Web-Gambling-Agents.html

July 28, 2006

Eight men are scheduled to appear in court on Friday in Oakland, California, after they were arrested and booked on charges they operated as agents for an online gambling business based in Costa Rica.

U.S. District Attorney Kevin Ryan said the men collected wagers in the form of cash and checks from bettors in the United States on behalf of BetTheDuck.com.

They then handed over the funds to “runners” who transmitted or transferred the money to the gambling firm.

The agents, who were paid a percentage of their bettors’ losses, were charged with operating an illegal gambling business, money-laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to conduct an illegal gambling business.

Second Dragnet

The arrests come on the heels of the high-profile indictments of 11 executives and consultants affiliated with BETonSPORTS and three marketing firms connected with BETonSPORTS (see Feds Deal Web Gambling Blow).

David Carruthers, the chief executive of BETonSPORTS, which has some of its operations in Costa Rica, was arrested 12 days ago.

Unlike the BETonSPORTS indictment, which targeted executives of BetOnSPORTS and its marketing partners, the indictments issued in the Bay Area of Northern California focus on street-level, independent agents.

Internal Revenue Service and other federal agents arrested Jenaro R. Mejias, Tony Ferretti, Dallas Affolter, Houshang Pourmohamad, Ed Attanasio, David Volkman, Norm Folsy, and Ray Vargas. All except Mr. Mejias, who is from Nevada, are from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Each count in the complaint carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release.

In addition, the complaint charges the defendants with conspiracy to launder money. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and five years’ supervised release.

BetTheDuck, which takes sports bets both online and by phone, did not address the arrests on its spartan, business-only web site. Calls to the company were not returned by press time.