Thursday, June 19, 2008
When online casinos are outlawed...
To paraphrase (read: subvert) the well-known informal dictum of the National Rifle Association, “When online casinos are outlawed, only outlaws will have online casinos.”
This would appear to be the moral of a story told this week by one Professor Juan Manuel of Guatemala, who discovered in a study of 119 online casino owners that some 18 (or just about 15%) had criminal records.
The study was financed by
BestOCG.com which, in official press material consequently declared thusly:
One of the myriad of problems caused by the United States' continuing attempts to prohibit online gambling and shut down online casinos is the unintended consequence that remaining online operators tend to be less scrupulous. ...
By trying to cast all online gambling activity as criminal, the U.S. has encouraged an unsavory element to assume ownership of many online casinos. Men like Calvin Ayre, sporting lengthy histories of legal shenanigans, take advantage of opportunities law-abiding citizens may regretfully decline.
Proof? Certainly. Why, just yesterday the
Montgomery County (Texas) sheriff’s office reported the arrest of three individuals and charged them with second-degree felony money laundering in a bookmaking operation.
Innocent until proven guilty Justin Franciscotty, Ana Franciscotty and Stephanie Uselton may be, the circumstantial evidence that investigators rounded up was certainly impressive: The family (Uselton is Ana Franciscotty’s sister) boasted some $16,000 in cash; Rolex watches valued in the $30,000 range; diamond jewelry; three computers; a sophisticated satellite setup with three televisions; a 2006 Cadillac Escalade; and a hotel bill for $44,000-plus.
“The domain name and setup was based in Costa Rica,” proclaimed a police sergeant involved in the bust. “...you can’t operate offshore from the US.”
The trio faces up to 20 years in prison.