PinnacleSports.com among four sites named in Colbert indictment
Alderney licensee mentioned along with wager4you.com, playhera.ag and jazzsports.net/com.
Alderney and Curacao licensed operator Pinnacle Sports is one of four sites referenced in the indictment of Cantor Gaming sportsbook director Mike Colbert.
Colbert’s arrest this week was part of a major national investigation with 25 individuals facing 225 charges involving money laundering, conspiracy and enterprise corruption.
Colbert himself faces eight charges, including enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy, with all 25 defendants facing one count of money laundering in the first degree involving financial transactions exceeding US$1m. His charges are understood to be unrelated to Cantor Gaming.
The indictment alleges that offshore sites www.pinnaclesports.com, www.jazzsports.net/com, www.wager4you.com and www.playhera.ag were illegally used to acquire money by accepting bets on sporting events. It is also alleged that the defendants maintained gambling accounts of several agents, intermediaries between players and the website operators, offshore in a bid to evade law enforcement.
The three indicted “owners” of Pinnacle Sports “ the operator which was awarded a licence by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in May this year “ are George Molsbarger, Brandt England and Stanley Tomchin.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said: “The defendants are accused of operating an incredibly lucrative illegal gambling operation “ taking in more than $50m in a year and a half. Such unlawfully earned profits are often “ and easily “ diverted to more insidious criminal enterprises.”
Wednesday’s eight arrests in Las Vegas were carried out by 30 Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) agents, working with NYPD and FBI officers and agents, as part of an investigation into an alleged large-scale bookmaking operation operating onshore and offshore. Seven homes were searched and $2.8m in cash and chips were seized or secured, while several betting accounts and safe deposit boxes have been searched and/or frozen.
Colbert and the other seven arrested in Las Vegas were booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday and face a hearing on Monday morning.
A further 17 arrests were made in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and California. The warrants were filed by the District Attorney’s office in New York and the GCB’s enforcement division has been working with the NYPD on the case for the past 15 months. In total, more than $7.6m in cash and gambling chips have been seized.