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FBI detecta centros de apuestas ilegales en Panamá
Nuevamente Panamá es utilizado para realizar actos ilicitos en Internet. Ya habíamos encontrados sitios web pornos que eran administrados desde Panamá. Ahora el FBI detectó que sitios fraudulentos e ilegales operan en Panamá para realizar apuestas en línea.
Este es nuestro Panamá, crisol de razas y paraiso para hacer lo que se quiera.
Actualizado 13 abril 2013: Nos han enviado la acusacion completa en PDF.
Actualización 13 de abril 2013, hemos recibido un email de un tal "Hombre del Petate" que nos ha facilitado la Acusación Completa o el Full Indictment para que lo aprecien dandole Click Aquí
Aún en Panamá con un buen capital de inversión se puede hacer casi lo que uno desea. Y es una lastima que desde afuera de nuestro país detecten y anuncien lo que ocurre en un medio masivo cómo el Internet.
Centro de apuestas disfrazado
El pasado 20 de marzo las autoridades estadounidenses presentaron una acusación que implicaba directamente a empresas radicadas en Panamá.
Acusaron de supuesto lavado de dinero a los dueños de Legendz Sports, radicada en el país desde 2003.
El Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) y el Servicio de Impuesto Interno (IRS, por sus siglas en inglés) determinaron que Bartice Alan King, dueño de Legendz Sports, creó una red de empresas en Estados Unidos y Panamá para blanquear capitales.
El dinero, producto del lavado, se obtendría a través de la captación ilegal de apuestas deportivas por internet desde Estados Unidos, donde esta variedad de juego de azar es ilegal.
Mythili Raman jefe interino de la división criminal del Departamento de Justicia de Oklahoma, Estados Unidos, denunció que la investigación alcanza a 23 compañías y a 34 personas que tendrán que hacerle frente a las acusaciones.
Alan King habría logrado captar desde 2003 a la fecha, apuestas superiores a los mil millones de dólares.
La acusación, presentada desde el pasado 20 de marzo ante la Corte de Oklahoma, detalla en 95 páginas el modelo operativo que se utilizaba para que los ciudadanos estadounidenses apostaran vía online en Panamá sin dejar rastro de sus movidas.
Legendz Sports era una compañía que trabajaba bajo la fachada de un call center en las instalaciones de la empresa Data Support Services, ubicada en Albrook.
El call center también aparece en el listado de sociedades que divulgó el FBI, como una compañía creada por Alan King para mover los fondos que obtenía de las apuestas que realizaban en su mayoría estadounidenses.
En su página web, Data Support Services, se vende como una empresa dedicada al negocio de llamadas, hosting web, diseño gráfico y desarrollo de softwares.
Se intentó contactar a los ejecutivos de la compañía para conocer su versión respecto a las acusaciones. Vía telefónica se informó que el gerente de Data Support Services, Maximillian Mclaren, que también aparece en la lista divulgada por el FBI, no se encontraba en la oficina.
Se comunicó que en esas instalaciones no operaba Legendz Sports.
Un extrabajador de la compañía, que pidió reserva de su nombre, advirtió que esa respuesta era predecible.
“Cuando recibíamos una llamada, a una línea que solo tenían los clientes, preguntábamos: “¿Me puede dar su número de cuenta y clave?”, sin siquiera anunciar a qué empresa se habían comunicado.
Si la persona no contestaba a la pregunta, el operador tenía la orden de colgar el teléfono, probablemente evitando ser detectado por las autoridades.
“Los días que habían juegos importantes, como la final del Fútbol Americano, las apuestas podían alcanzar los 10 millones de dólares”, agregó.
El FBI detectó que Alan King creó en 2002 una compañía en Costa Rica y un año después se trasladó a Panamá.
En los registros de la Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ) aparece la empresa Legendz Gamming Corp., como uno de los seis operadores autorizados para captar apuestas por internet u otro medio de comunicación a distancia.
Se intentó contactar a Giselle Brea, secretaria ejecutiva de la JCJ, para obtener su versión respecto a lo que ocurre con la empresa bajo su supervisión. Brea no atendió los correos electrónicos y llamadas telefónicas.
Se desconoce si las autoridades panameñas están al tanto de las acusaciones que nacen en Estados Unidos y si colaboraron con las investigaciones del FBI.
Tampoco se sabe si a raíz de las acusaciones, la JCJ cancelaría la concesión que tiene la empresa en Panamá.
alcance de una actividad prohibida
16
Compañías que son mencionadas en la investigación del FBI están radicadas o fueron creadas en Panamá.
2011
Las autoridades cerraron en Estados Unidos tres de los sitios más grandes de apuestas en internet que habían obtenido ganancias superiores a los 3 mil millones de dólares.
HOUSTON (CBS Houston) According to the Department of Justice, thirty-four individuals and 23 entities have been indicted and accused of operating an illegal sports bookmaking business that saw revenue of more than $1 billion in illegal bets. Four of the individuals named in the indictment have ties to the Houston area.
The indictment alleges that the defendants were systematically operating an illegal sports gambling operation. “I thank the IRS and FBI for their diligent work over several years to investigate this billion dollar international gambling enterprise, said U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats.
“These defendants allegedly participated in an illegal sports gambling business, lining their pockets with profits from over a billion dollars in illegal gambling proceeds,” stated Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “[The current] charges demonstrate that we are as determined as ever to hold accountable those involved in facilitating illegal online gambling by U.S. citizens, regardless of where the business operates, or where the defendants reside.”
The indictment further states that Bartice Alan King, aka “Luke” and “Cool,” 42, of Spring, Texas, conspired with others to operate internet and telephone gambling services first from San Jose, then onto Costa Rica. Their alleged illegal operating system then spanned well into and then from Panama City, Panama; they took wagers almost exclusively from gamblers in the United States seeking to place bets on sports.
The illegal enterprise which was once know as Legendz Sports back in 2003, allegedly used bookies located in the United States to illegally solicit and accept sports wagers and settle gambling debts.
Thirty-four defendants were named in the indictment and are further alleged to have been employees, members and associates of Legendz Sports.
Department of Justice
Thirty-four individuals and 23 entities have been indicted and accused of operating an illegal sports bookmaking business that solicited more than $1 billion in illegal bets, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Sanford C. Coats.
“These defendants allegedly participated in an illegal sports gambling business, lining their pockets with profits from over a billion dollars in illegal gambling proceeds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “Today’s charges demonstrate that we are as determined as ever to hold accountable those involved in facilitating illegal online gambling by U.S. citizens, regardless of where the business operates, or where the defendants reside.”
“The defendants cannot hide the allegedly illegal sports gambling operation behind corporate veils or state and international boundaries,” said U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats. “I thank the IRS and FBI for their diligent work over several years to investigate this billion dollar international gambling enterprise.”
According to the indictment, Bartice Alan King, aka “Luke” and “Cool,” 42, of Spring, Texas, conspired with others to operate internet and telephone gambling services first from San Jose, Costa Rica and then from Panama City, which took wagers almost exclusively from gamblers in the United States seeking to place bets on sports. Known since 2003 as Legendz Sports, the enterprise allegedly used bookies located in the United States to illegally solicit and accept sports wagers as well as settle gambling debts.
The 34 defendants are alleged to have been employees, members and associates of the ongoing Legendz Sports enterprise. The 23 corporate defendants are alleged to have been used by Legendz Sports to facilitate gambling operations, operate as payment processors, own websites and domain names used in the enterprise, launder gambling funds and make payouts to gamblers.
The indictment alleges that Legendz Sports sought to maximize the number of gamblers who opened wagering accounts by offering both “post-up” betting, which requires a bettor to first set up and fund an account before placing bets and “credit” betting, which allowed the bettor to place a wager without depositing money in advance through face-to-face meetings with bookies or agents.
The indictment alleges that Legendz Sports solicited millions of illegal bets totaling over $1 billion.
“These defendants allegedly participated in an illegal sports gambling business, lining their pockets with profits from over a billion dollars in illegal gambling proceeds,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “Today’s charges demonstrate that we are as determined as ever to hold accountable those involved in facilitating illegal online gambling by U.S. citizens, regardless of where the business operates, or where the defendants reside.”
“The defendants cannot hide the allegedly illegal sports gambling operation behind corporate veils or state and international boundaries,” said U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats. “I thank the IRS and FBI for their diligent work over several years to investigate this billion dollar international gambling enterprise.”
“Individuals cannot skirt the laws of the United States by setting up illegal internet gambling operations in a foreign country, while living in the United States and enjoying all the benefits of U.S. citizens,” said Jim Finch, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office. “The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to be diligent in investigating such violations of federal law.”
“Combining the financial investigative expertise of the IRS with the skills and resources of the FBI makes a formidable team for combating major, greed-driven crimes,” said Andrea D. Whelan, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent in Charge. “This massive indictment is the result of our highly effective law enforcement partnership.”
If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for racketeering, up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering, up to 10 years in prison for money laundering and up to five years in prison for operating an illegal gambling business.
In addition, the indictment seeks a forfeiture money judgment of at least $1 billion traceable to numerous specific assets that include real estate, bank accounts, brokerage and investment accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, domain names, a Sabreliner aircraft, a gas lease and vehicles.
The public is reminded that the indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendants are each presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Dickerson Cox and William Lee Borden Jr., from the Western District of Oklahoma and Trial Attorney John S. Han with the Department of Justice Criminal Division Organized Crime and Gang Section.
For further information, reference is made to the 95-page indictment which can be found at www.justice.gov/usao/okw/index.html.
Referencias:
Prensa.com - Centro de Apuestas Disfrazado
Prensa.com - FBI detecta red ilegal en Panamá
CBS - Illegal Online Gaming Operations
United States Department of Justice
Calvinayre - Legenz on Sports Indicted by Department of Justice
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