$45 Million Betting Ring Busted

NEW YORK – As reported by the New York Daily News: "With March Madness reaching a fever pitch, Brooklyn authorities yesterday announced the dunking of a $45 million betting ring allegedly run by a team of Chinatown and Gambino mobsters.

"The bust, dubbed Kings Flush 2006 March Madness, netted $300,000 in cash and scores of computers at call centers, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said.

"Seven of the men arrested early Saturday are suspected of being soldiers in the Chinese Fukanese street gang. Three more have ties to the Gambino crime family, Hynes said.

"…The investigation, led by detectives in Hynes' office, began in November 2005 and zeroed in on several wirerooms in Brooklyn, Queens and lower Manhattan, where the defendants allegedly took bets phoned in prior to major pro and college sports events.

"The 11 locations, mostly low-rent apartments in residential neighborhoods, typically consisted of phone banks, computers and two or three people taking the calls, investigators said…"
2006-03-29