New York’s attorney general has indicted 13 individuals for operating a Mafia-connected online credit betting operation.
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – most recently seen bullying daily fantasy sports operators – announced that 13 individuals had been arrested and charged under Operation Shark Bait, a long term investigation by the AG’s office and the New York City Police Department into illegal bookmaking and loansharking tied to the Genovese organized crime family.
The 13 individuals are a greying bunch, with the youngest being 46 years old and the two oldest aged 76, including alleged ringleader, Genovese ‘made’ member Salvatore DeMeo. For the record, only three of the 13 have names that don’t end in vowels.
Wiretapped conversations uncovered an illegal online bookmaking operation that handled “millions of dollars’ worth of wagers.” The sports betting operation was run out of a Costa Rica-based wire room and served by a password-protected website, 4Spades.org.
Schneiderman said the six of the accused ran a “lucrative” loansharking business that saddled victims in a “high cost debt trap” with “outrageous loan rates that are impossible to repay.” The defendants “went to great lengths to trap their victims with exorbitant rates, all while evading our gambling laws and taking offshore bets.”
The defendants appeared in Brooklyn court on Thursday, at which they all pled not guilty to charges of illegal gambling, loansharking and enterprise corruption. Judge Danny Chun sent a $300k bail for Demeo, who has a heart condition.
Demeo, whose criminal history dates back to 1984, was already wanted on an outstanding federal warrant on charges of racketeering and bank robbery. Demeo went on the lam in 2000, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation to put him on their ‘Ten Most Wanted’ list.
