Picture this, HBO brings back the Sopranos, the opening scene, Tony Soprano and his gang are being busted in a federal sting for operating an illegal online gambling website. This could very well be a premise for the imagination of Hollywood, but instead it is the story of 13 alleged members of a Hudson County, N.J., crew of the Genovese crime family.
I know, I know what your thinking, really, the mob?
But, according to several sources the feds have charged in connection several members of an alleged mob family for operating an illegal online gambling operation and charges are for racketeering conspiracy that focused on a multimillion-dollar sports-betting operation run through an Internet website in Costa Rica known as the “office“.
While the case is built around traditional mob moneymaking ventures like bookmaking, loan-sharking, and cargo theft, “the new wrinkle here is the use of offshore sites and the Internet for processing bets,” said New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
To quote Michael Ward an FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s Newark office, “The use of Internet gambling and off shore locales demonstrates an evolution and increased sophistication” in what had traditionally been a staple of the mob’s underworld economy.
The conspiracy charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.
One has to think that these guys really wished that the NJ legislature had passed a bill last year that would have made it the first state in America to approve in-state online gambling, but, Gov. Chris Christie had to go and veto the bill, expressing concerns about its constitutionality and the possible proliferation of illegal computer betting parlors.
Reported by Maggie B.
The post NJ Men Busted For Operation of Illegal Online Gambling Website appeared first on Casino Scam Report.