Is there any truth to this article regarding betonline in legal trouble?

[trixtrix]

jesus i have 10k there and 24k rollover to complete before i can withdraw..

"
District Attorney Brown said that, according to a 131-count indictment filed in Queens
County Supreme Court the gambling ring promoted illegal sports betting in Queens County and
elsewhere and that the top two defendants – alleged bookmakers Joseph J. Fafone and Eric Davis
Harp – used various Internet websites, including BetAllSportshere.com, justwagers.com, betmsg.com,
betonline.com, and betrr.com, as well as toll-free telephone numbers to accept wagers. The
defendants also allegedly controlled a non-traditional “wire room” in the form of an off-shore,"

http://www.gamblingiq.com/thirty-individuals-indicted-in-multi-million-dollar-off-shore-sports-bettinthirty-individuals-indicted-in-multi-million-dollar-off-shore-sports-betting-operationg-operation/

[patswin]

according to gambing911 they were part of the idictment

[SBR_John]

Looks like the State of New York has taken down their credit operation. Not sure how this will affect the operation in Panama. Most credit related pinch's do not affect the post up operation. I know the SBR team is digging around and will have some news on this soon.

[JoshW]

Interesting that DA claim they have confiscated three million. Likely is just all the personal bank accounts of all those indicted.

Having read the full press release, the only thing that makes it look like this is BetOnline principle ownership is the headline by 911. Nothing in the actual press release points to that.

[InThisMoment]

Yes.

[gambleballs]

Sounds bad. I have multiple accounts with the sites listed.. all the logins still work. Luckily, not much was post up.

[trixtrix]

the actual time-value premium of the rollover is never more clear than in circumstances like this..

anyone know what the early withdraw penalty is for betonline?

[katstale]

Wow, hard to believe a stand-up company like BOL would be involved with the kind of people who extort, etc.

John, I would cash that check quick.

[beach nut]

Pretty scary stuff for Betonline customers. I understand many of the agents arrested lived here in the states, but why would any key employees risk traveling between Panama and the states after everything that happened with BetOnsports?

[clarkd32]

I noticed BetOnline got downgraded from A- to B-.. is that only because of the article yesterday or because customers are experiencing issues?

[joe361]

I noticed BetOnline got downgraded from A- to B-.. is that only because of the article yesterday or because customers are experiencing issues?

Yes.

[patswin]

hopefully this won't affect postups

[Don99]

I have about $10,000 with them.

I requested a $2000 payout a few days ago so I will keep you updated on how that goes.

[Dark Horse]

Copied and pasted. No idea how much of this is true.

If this background is true, with regards to the people behind this book, I would have to wonder why SBR didn't offer that information when this book received its high rating. Grand Central Sports?!?

Online Gambling Bust Involving Betonline and Mob Connections

written October 22, 2009 by Kenneth Weitzner

Online Gambling Bust Involving Betonline and Mob Connections

Back in 2007, I had the following to say about the genealogy of a new sports book the emerged, namely Betonline.

1-Peter Jacobi of Grand Central Sports- left 2001 and disappeared...

2-For those who weren't around then, Grand Central Sports was primarily famous for their telemarketing scams and screwing Lou Diamond and his video equipment...

3-Peter Jacobi's partner, Mike Nichols, who also owned BeverlyHillsbookie and Mybookie.com, founded NINE.com in 2003 and made a fortune by selling it at the right time to VIP's -Alistair-...

4-In 20004, Peter reappears as a partner of BetOnline, calling himself "Gary."

5-In early 2006, Bestline gets sold by John Magnum to Charles Bauer, aka Eddie and Bama...

6-In late 2006 or early 2007, BetOnline gets bought out by Charles Bauer (previously from Infinity-part of BETONSPORTS), who goes by the name of "Eddie" and "Bama" at present...

7-Dalton Wagner (also affiliated with Kaplan and BOS) becomes very involved with BetOnline and sells BetonSports's equipment, customer lists, and anything else from BOS that he can get paid for by the new partners of BetOnline..

If you liked BetonSports, then BetOnline is the sports book for all your future needs now that BOS has closed down...

They even have very similar names to make everyone feel at home...(beton....,beton...)

Moving forward to the present, this is what just went down in New York...

THIRTY INDIVIDUALS INDICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR OFF-SHORE SPORTS BETTING OPERATION

Charged With Enterprise Corruption, Promoting Gambling and Money Laundering
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by New York City Police Commissioner
Raymond W. Kelly and Patricia J. Haynes, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office
of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), today announced the indictment of 30 individuals and one
corporation on charges of unlawfully operating a sports betting enterprise that stretched from Queens
County to Nevada and from Rochester to Florida. It is estimated that the ring took in more than $567
million over a 28-month period by accepting wagers on a wide variety of sporting events – ranging
from professional football, basketball, hockey and baseball to college basketball, among others.
District Attorney Brown said, “The defendants are accused of operating an incredibly
lucrative gambling operation – taking in more than $20 million a month, on average. Such
unlawfully earned profits are often – and easily – diverted to more insidious criminal enterprises. In
fact, the investigation uncovered evidence that the enterprise had links to both the Gambino and
Genovese crime families.â€

The District Attorney continued, “Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime. Those who
participate in these criminal enterprises often use threats, intimidation and even physical force to
collect debts and oftentimes charge usurious interest rates on outstanding debts. In addition to our
NYPD and IRS partners, I want to thank our federal law enforcement colleagues and police
authorities in other states for their cooperation and efforts in this investigation. So massive was the
enterprise that only with their assistance could we bring these defendants to justice.â€
Commissioner Kelly said, “Gambling proceeds is the fuel that drives organized crime. The
staggering amount of money in this case demonstrates just that. In this instance, however, the
bookies ran out of luck.â€

IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Haynes said, “Illegal gambling is a complex financial crime.
Violators often use computers as tools to conduct financial transactions to launder money. Our
agents use their unique financial and forensic computer skills to trace the flow of the money and
unravel these financial transactions.â€

One of the ring’s alleged bookmakers – Joseph J. Fafone – was arrested yesterday at the
airport in Rochester New York, where he was waiting to board a flight to Panama. He was carrying
nearly $24,000 in cash on his person. Of the other ring members, seventeen were arrested locally
today and are awaiting arraignment in Queens Supreme Court. Nine other individuals were arrested
in upstate New York, Florida, Nevada and Illinois. Three others – including two in Panama – are
presently being sought and search warrants are being executed across the country to track down
assets connected to the ring. Presently, more than $3 million in cash has been seized. The arrests
stem from a 38-month investigation known as “Operation Betting It All.â€

The defendants are charged with enterprise corruption – a violation of New York State’s
Organized Crime Control Act – as well as money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy.
If convicted, the individual defendants each face up to 25 years in prison. The corporate defendant
faces a fine of up to $10,000 or double the amount of the illegal gain.

In addition to the criminal charges, twenty of the defendants are being sued civilly and have
been named as respondents in a $125 million civil forfeiture action filed in Queens Supreme Court
by the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau which alleges that they engaged in a criminal
enterprise that promoted illegal gambling activities and generated illegal wages.

District Attorney Brown said that, according to a 131-count indictment filed in Queens
County Supreme Court the gambling ring promoted illegal sports betting in Queens County and
elsewhere and that the top two defendants – alleged bookmakers Joseph J. Fafone and Eric Davis
Harp – used various Internet websites, including betallsportshere.com, justwagers.com, betmsg.com,
betonline.com, and betrr.com, as well as toll-free telephone numbers to accept wagers. The
defendants also allegedly controlled a non-traditional “wire room†in the form of an off-shore,
Internet gambling service used by bettors and runners to actually place their wagers. It is alleged that
the ring used the off-shore wire room – located in Panama – to maintain the gambling accounts of
numerous runners and bettors through the Internet websites in an effort to evade law enforcement
detection through traditional methods.

Law enforcement crackdowns on traditional mob-run wire rooms have led to the use by
illegal gambling rings of off-shore gambling websites where action is available around the clock.
Bettors can click on an off-shore gambling website over the Internet and be assigned individual login
codes and passwords. Their wagers and win-loss amounts are recorded in “sub-accountsâ€
maintained in the accounts of “runners†and “agents.†These gambling websites typically store their
information on computer servers located outside the United States – such as in Panama – and
“bounce†their data through a series of server nodes in an effort to evade law enforcement.
In addition to Fafone and Harp – who allegedly were the bookmakers of the enterprise who
controlled and oversaw the entire operation – the indictment charges that nine other defendants –
Joseph Fafone, Sr., Thomas Farley, Gail Harris, Edward P. Kenny, Lester Klein, Louis P. Lippa,
Amanda Mercer, Robert Rasmussen and David Valerio – worked as “money collectors†and
“distributors†and were responsible for exchanging, distributing, delivering and transferring
gambling proceeds between members of the organization, including to and from agents/runners.
Some of the collectors were also allegedly involved in exchanging, distributing, delivering and
transferring gambling proceeds through various financial institutions.

Four other defendants – Jerry Dicresce, Edward LaRocco, David Strickland and Robert
Wehnert – are alleged to have been “master agents†with several subordinate agents/runners
reporting directly to them.

The indictment additionally charges that thirteen of the defendants worked as
“agents/runners†– Robert Aglialoro, Andrew Berg, John Bowling, Louis Cassero, Joseph
Catalanotto, Philip Cesario, David Goldman, Jonathan Piansky, Joseph Pontarelli, Matthew
Schmalacker, Louis Todisco, Michael Rizzi and Robert Stampf – and were responsible for soliciting
new bettors to the organization, maintaining existing bettor relationships and meeting with bettors
to collect gambling losses and payout winnings.

While bookmakers Fafone and Harp allegedly visited the Panama wire room on occasion,
it is alleged that two other defendants in the ring – Andre Lepiz and Mike Sheridan– were in charge
of the day-to-day running of the room and allegedly acted as intermediaries with others involved in
the operation.

The corporation, JJF Consulting Services, Inc., is allegedly owned by Joseph J. Fafone and
operated out of his personal residence. The corporation was allegedly a shell corporation that was
used as a “money launder†to funnel and obscure the illegal gambling proceeds.
District Attorney Brown said that the investigation leading to today’s indictment began in
September 2006 when detectives from the NYPD’s Organized Crime Investigation Division
developed information about an illegal sports betting operation and began a joint investigation with
the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau. The investigation included physical
surveillance, intelligence information, use of an undercover officer and court-authorized electronic
eavesdropping.

According to the indictment, between September 2006 and January 2009, the defendants
conspired to make money illegally through the operation of an unlawful gambling enterprise that
accepted bets on sporting events ranging from as little as $5 to as much as $20,000 on a single game.
According to the indictment, after a bettor placed a bet either through the website or through
one of the organization’s toll-free telephone numbers, the bettor collected his winnings or paid any
losses by interacting with an agent/runner either in person or through interstate commerce. The
agent/runner, in turn, met with a money collector to turn over any gambling debts the agent/runner
collected from his bettors and/or to receive any money from the money collectors that the
agent/runner’s bettors won. The money collector/distributors, in turn, were responsible for the
collection and distribution of illegal gambling proceeds between the bookmakers and the
agents/master-agents.

The investigation was conducted by the NYPD Detective Joseph Chimienti of the Organized
Crime Investigation Division of the Organized Crime Control Bureau, under the supervision of
Lieutenant Jack Iacovou and Detective Matthew Murphy of the NYPD’s Asset Forfeiture Unit under
the supervision of Sergeant Stephen Scalza.

Also assisting in the investigation were IRS Special Agent John D. Lopez and IRS
Supervisory Special Agent Russ Richardson; State of Nevada Gaming Control Board Enforcement
Division Special Agents James Taylor and Anthony Vincent and Agent Jesse Prieto; Sean O’Malley,
Deputy Chief Investigator, Enforcement Division, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and Assistant
United States Attorney Yasmin Best of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District
of Illinois and Assistant United States Attorney Tanya Y. Hill of the United States Attorney’s Office
for the Eastern District of New York.

Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Maloney, of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime
and Rackets Bureau, is prosecuting the criminal case under the supervision of Assistant District
Attorney Gerard A. Brave, Bureau Chief, and Mark L. Katz, Deputy Chief, and Assistant District
Attorney David S. Zadnoff, of the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau, is handling the
civil case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, Bureau
Chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, Deputy Chief. Both the criminal and civil matters are under the overall
supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy
Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Note to Editors: E-version of this press release posted at www.queensda.org.

ADDENDUM
* denotes those defendants presently not in custody.

ALLEGED BOOKMAKER (2)

Joseph J. Fafone, 48, of 6226 Pheasants Crossing, Farmington, New York
Eric Davis Harp, 36, of 230 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada

ALLEGED MONEY COLLECTOR (9)

Joseph P. Fafone, 70, of 7495 La Paz Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida
Thomas P. Farley, 65, of 7 Ash Street, Floral Park, New York
Gail R. Harris, 55, of 2445 NW 64th Street, Boca Raton, Florida
Edward P. Kenny, 59, of 1155 Hillsboro Mile #708, Hillsboro Beach, Florida
Lester J. Klein, 66, of 166-41 Powell Cove Boulevard, Whitestone, Queens *
Louis P. Lippa Jr., 61, of 26-3 Great Wood Court, Fairport, New York
Amanda L. Mercer, 39, of 1058 Castiron Ridge Court, Henderson, Nevada
Robert J. Rasmussen, 42, of 7432 West 161st Street, Tinley Park, Illinois
David Valerio, 61, of 81 Meriden Street, Rochester, New York

ALLEGED MASTER AGENTS (4)

Jerry Dicresce, 75, of 1 Vincent Road, Apt. 3J, Bronxville, New York
Edward LaRocco, 61, of 68 Roger Drive, Port Washington, New York
Robert Wehnert, 63, of 69-26 62nd Avenue, Middle Village, Queens
David Strickland, 54, of 22837 Ponderosa Drive, Boca Raton, Florida

ALLEGED AGENTS/RUNNERS (13)

Robert Aglialoro, 38, of 57-44 81st Street, Middle Village, Queens
Andrew Berg, 48, of 60 Knollwood Road, Roslyn, New York
John Bowling, 60, of 9425 Boardwalk Lane, Orland Park, Illinois

ALLEGED AGENTS/RUNNERS (continued)

Louis Cassero, 36, of 1771 Washington Avenue, Seaford, New York
Joseph Catalanotto, 52, of 66 East Shore Road, Huntington, New York
Philip Cesario, 68, of 303 East 60th Street, New York, New York
David Goldman, 67, of 401 East 80th Street, New York, New York
Jonathan Piansky, 39, of 9-20 166th Street, Whitestone, New York
Joseph Pontarelli, 66, of 19 East 80th Street, New York, New York
Michael Rizzi, 38, of (home address unavailable), Brooklyn, New York
Matthew Schmalacker, of 25, 215 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, New York
Robert Stampf, 74, of 30-61 49th Street, Astoria, Queens
Louis Todisco, 42, of 166-07 20th Avenue, Whitestone, Queens

ALLEGED WIRE ROOM MANAGER (1)

Mike Sheridan, (age unknown), of Via Brasil, Calle 50, Display Plaza #1, Panama City, Panama *

ALLEGED WIRE ROOM ACCOUNTANT (1)

Andre Lepiz, (age unknown), of Via Brasil, Calle 50, Display Plaza #1, Panama City, Panama *

ALLEGED CORPORATION (1)

JJF Consulting Services, of 6226 Pheasants Crossing, Farmington, New York

[katstale]

many threads on here to explain how they got there rating. It was never from anything they did as a book. black eye for SBr and has been for a long time.

[20Four7]

BOL was SBR's poster boy book for last year, much in the same the BetPhoenix is this year. Remember SBR is a business first. They do a much better job of protecting the player but revenue is important to them too.

[DukeJohn]

I noticed BetOnline got downgraded from A- to B-.. is that only because of the article yesterday or because customers are experiencing issues?

Wow!! This is a blow... BetOnline is one of the few US books with decent limits left with a good rating. Dropping it below B means I will be pulling funds out and removing them from my list of outs. However, I will take a gamble and leave funds in until the first of the next year and see what happens... I luckily pulled most of my money out of them before the start of hockey season, so I will risk what is left...

[dark star]

BOL = Bigtrouble

[Likes_to_win]

In light of the current investigation, what's the better method of withdrawing money? Check or bankwire?

[Rollins08]

Tough call at this point. I'm guessing your withdrawing to much to do moneygram or **.

[big joe 1212]

I think this explains why I received 2 emails from them yesterday with bonus offers, when I haven't heard from them for over a year!

Are they looking to get as much post up as they can and then run? Or is this just a coincidence?