Italian police have taken down a large Mafia-linked online gambling operation, based in Salerno, which prosecutors say was rigging games to make it “impossible for players to make significant winnings.”
According to Casino.Org News, eighteen people were arrested and a total of 64 individuals are under investigation.
Police called the network a “complex and structured criminal organization,” and named Antonio Contaldo, 50, as the ring leader, along with his close family members, including his brothers and sons. Contaldo is accused of having links to the Camorra organized crime syndicate and as well as the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta, according to the Casino.Org report.
The investigation was called “Operation Jamm Jamm,” after the Jamm Jamm discotheque in the town of San Valentino Torio, which police said was established with the proceeds of the illegal gambling operation. The property has now been seized, along with 20 other business, including an “illegal dentist’s office,” the report said.
Charges against the suspects include membership of a criminal organization, offering illegal online gambling, extortion, money laundering, fraudulent transfer of assets, computer fraud, unauthorized access to computer systems, falsehoods, domestic violence, unlawful practice of a health profession and disclosure of official secrets.
According to Casino.Org, the online sites were based on servers outside Italy and have been impounded. They include: www4.dgbpoker.com; www.pkgambling373.com; www.pkwildpoker.net; www.betfaktor.com; www.planetwin365.com; www.new5.betaland.com; www.new4.betaland.com; www.new2.betaland.com; www.new1.betaland.com; www.new.betaland.com; and www.betaland.com.
According to CalvinAyre.com, two of those sites may have been targeted in error. Austria’s SKS365 Group, which operates Planet365, has distanced itself from any involvement, stating that the criminal group had exploited Planet365’s brand reputation to lure bettors to copycat sites that report said.
OIA Services Ltd, meanwhile, which owns Betaland, says that Betaland.com has been closed to Italian players for over a year, and the sites associated with the gambling ring that used the Betaland extension did so without permission and were “rightly already darkened to access, as unlicensed.”
Police also said that the ring has links to Luigi Tancredi, who is known in Italy as “the King of Slots” for his operations in legal online gambling sites. Tancredi is believed to be the owner of DollaroPoker, and was arrested in January and accused of being the mastermind of a gambling ring that operated 12,000 online gaming and lottery video terminals in bars, cafes and gaming halls throughout Italy, Casino.Org said.
