Italian lawmen have sentenced a mobster to a lengthy jail term for his part in an illegal online gambling ring, and the Borgata Chipgate star, Christian Lusardi, once used a fake bomb.
I’ve had poker organisations ask my lords and masters at CalvinAyre to sack me for my opinion, but I have never had someone threaten to ‘shoot my mouth off.’
But the Italian journalist, Giovanni Tizian, has, after finding gonads big enough to investigate the role of Nicola Femia. A 56-year-old man suspected of running an illegal online gambling operation worth an estimated $65 million. The size of the balls is relevant because Femia allegedly has ties with the infamous Ndrangehta Mob. Picture a horse’s head on a bed, and you get the picture.
Femia has been in front of the Italian Beak for three years for his alleged role in the online gambling ring and this week he was found guilty and sentenced to a smidgen under 27 years. Fortunately, for Femia, his family won’t miss him because most of them will be joining him. His 32-year-old daughter Guendalina received ten years and three months, and his 26-year-old son Nicola Rocco received 15 years.
Tizian, who works for the Gazzetta di Modena, and the Italian Police figured out that Femia was running over 50 illegal gambling joints in the country. He also had fingers inside sweet and sticky pies in Romania and London. News reports suggest he was visiting London regularly to pick up monthly payments of more than $25,000. His London contact Massimiliano Rizzo received three years on conspiracy charges.
Femia is understood to have been the man behind over 1,500 rigged slot machines, and also had ties to the Mafia. In 2014, the Guardian reported that the Ndrangehta crime syndicate earned more money than McDonald’s and Deutsche Bank. A study claimed they turned over £44 billion that financial year. The Pope asked them to stop doing evil things. I don’t think they will listen to him.
The crazy/brave (strikethrough accordingly) journalist, Tizian, sued Femia for alleged threat to his life and was awarded $53,000 in damages. The Ndrangehta family is said to employ over 60,000 people worldwide and make the most of their money through embezzlement, arms, and prostitution.
Christian Lusardi and the Fake Bomb
When I was a kid, I had a mega crush on the Sun Page 3 girl Linda Lusardi. And I often think of her and her boobs when I think of poker’s stupidest criminal Christian Lusardi.
I wonder if she’s his Mum?
Anyway, today, instead of thinking about Lusardi’s boobs, my mind is on Lusardi’s bombs, after reading in Flushdraw that the Borgata scam artist, currently doing time, was known to Borgata well before he decided to flush one of their events full of counterfeit chips.
The Borgata never took any action against him due to a lack of evidence, and this is despite Lusardi dumping a backpack in a trash can containing a fake bomb and fake gun.
The casino handed the contents over to the Atlantic City Police Department who decided no further action was necessary because both weapons were fake and not used in an actual crime.
The bombs that Linda used to contaminate my youth were certainly NOT fake.
