NBC news has published a report that says the recently leaked Panama papers will shed light on how Billionaire fugitive Calvin Ayre has used money to pay U.S. gamblers at his Bodog.com site and other details about how he moved money around the globe.
The U.S. indicted Ayre—who is a Canadian citizen—in 2012 for illegally offering gambling to U.S. players at his Bodog.com website. Ayre has technically been a fugitive ever since, but has continues to live a flamboyant and very public lifestyle despite the indictment.
The Panama paper details clients and accounts at the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and outline extensive use of tax shelters and other secret financial movements by a host of international players.
A review of the law firm’s internal files by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other media partners, including NBC News, has identified companies tied to at least 36 Americans accused of fraud or other serious financial misconduct. Some have been convicted of fraud or other crimes, while others have been sued in civil cases launched by securities regulators or private plaintiffs, the NBC report said.
Ayre, however, is famous for avoiding the charges in the U.S.
According to NBC News, U.S. authorities also believe that Ayre and his associates have successfully used layers of offshore accounts to hide potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit earnings. The U.S. hopes to seize that money on top of $68 million they say they’ve already seized.
The report said investigators believe the Panama papers—which is over 11 million documents—will lead them to some of that money.
The 2012 indictment accuses Ayre and his associates of moving $100 million from accounts in Canada, Malta, England, Switzerland and elsewhere into U.S. accounts to pay illegal winnings to American bettors, and another $42 million to pay for advertising.
The NBC report, however, said that its initial review of the papers found evidence of an account Ayre created in the tax haven of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and controlled from 2007 to early 2013 that U.S. investigators said they were unaware of. Investigators told NBC they believe that account and others revealed by the Panama Papers could help them connect the dots between Ayre and potentially dozens of other associates as he expanded his gambling, betting and alleged money-laundering operations to the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.
