Reports claim that Maverick Carter, an American sports-marketing businessman and media personality, has admitted to betting with an illegal operator. According to The Washington Post, Carter confessed his involvement in unlicensed gambling in 2021, during the investigation into ex-Minor League pro Wayne Nix.

Back then, Nix plead guilty to the operation of an illegal sports betting business and the filing of false tax returns. During the investigation, Carter admitted to a federal agent that he made roughly 20 bets with the illegal bookmaker.

Carter, who manages the Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar LeBron James, told the federals that he placed around 20 bets with the bookmaker. All of the bets were roughly between $5,000 and $10,000 and were all placed on football and basketball. However, none of the bets Carter made were placed on the Lakes and he did not make any bets on the behalf of other people.

Carter Cooperated with the Authorities

Carter is not an athlete or sports official, meaning he is not barred from wagering on sports, as per the NBA’s rules. As a result, he avoided sanctions from the league.

Adam Mendelsohn, a media spokesperson for Maverick Carter and LeBron James, contacted The Washington Post on the matter, clarifying that the former was never the target of the investigation. Mendelsohn added that the businessman cooperated with the federals and helped resolve the issue.

In addition, Carter was never charged and was never contacted on the matter again, Mendelsohn said.

Nix Ran a Gambling Operation for Athletes

For reference, the Wayne Nix investigation uncovered a longtime-running operation that included many high-profile clients from the sports sector. The operation had been running for over twenty years and was focused on catering to the betting needs of professional athletes (who are, under normal circumstances, prohibited from betting).

The operation was run by former athletes who acted as bookmakers, offering betting on sports to clients across various leagues.

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Games Global continues its expansion across the globe, and with its newest partner, a gaming studio from Sydney Blue Ring Studios, the company upgraded its popular game development line-up even further.

Captivating gameplay enriched with advanced mechanics

Two renowned companies have partnered to deliver the exclusive content, the game called 6 Pure Pearls, which was launched on September 6.

This online slot game is medium volatility and combines fantastic gameplay and a well-known theme loved by players with features that bring the player experience to a new level. The game strongly resembles the Blue Ring origins, making it even more captivating.

Blue Ring Studios has become popular in land-based and retail casinos. Its games combine creative ideas with thoroughly researched execution, thanks to the experience the company gained during the years of presence in various markets all over the world.

The company’s focus during all these years has been player experience. The mechanics remained simple, while the gameplay was more than interesting, staying loyal to the “maths first” design of its games.

This pearly slot is situated underwater, providing the players with a special adventure. The main pearl of the game is the renowned Link&Win collection mechanics. The players will be happy to try the Free Spins feature, which greatly increases the win potential of the game.

Beginning of the long partnership

All of the Games Global players will be able to exclusively try 6 Pure Pearls, and, according to the companies, this won’t be the end – they are planning to release more captivating games and strengthen their position in the market.

According to the source, Peter Wilkins, director of product at Blue Ring Studios, said: “We are immensely proud and excited to be commencing our journey with Games Global, their customers, and, of course, slot players all around the world. We commit to leveraging our long association with land-based slot development to develop our knowledge into engaging content for players of all types and hence provide even more diversity to the already immense Game Global game range.”

Andrew Booth, chief product officer at Games Global, added: “Together, our exclusive studios are building the future of online gaming, bringing better, richer content to the table faster than ever before. We’re thrilled to introduce Blue Ring Studios as the latest to join our ranks, reinforcing our network further. Underpinned by decades of experience, this hugely talented team promises to deliver rewarding entertainment experiences for operators and their players.”

Source: “Games Global makes a splash with Blue Ring Studios”. iGamingBusiness. September 11, 2023.

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China, which prohibits gambling outside of certain regions, has cracked down on yet another illegal gambling operation. Following enforcement action carried out this weekend, the police arrested 93 people and seized around $125 million (figure has been converted to USD).

As a result of the raid, the illegal iGaming platform is no longer available. Investigators will leverage data secured during the raid to make additional arrests if needed.

The operation was carried out in Zhaotong, a city in the province of Yunnan. As reported, the action was the culmination of an investigation that started in 2021. The culprits ran an online gambling scheme, in violation of China’s gambling rules.

The Operation Took Many Months

The authorities did not rush the investigation and instead, created a team that was tasked with understanding the gambling operation and learning its true extent. The illegal gambling operator ran multiple websites, all of which operated on highly-advanced software.

In addition, the illegal operation leveraged multiple game tools and had many regional representatives. The government, therefore, had to plan carefully before initiating action.

Following sixteen months of investigations, China finally launched raids on the illegal operator. The police raided a total of nine locations, some of which were outside the Yunnan province. As noted, the action resulted in the arrests of 93 people and the seizure of $125 million. In addition, the police reportedly seized 27 computers and 80 mobile devices.

China Continues War on Illegal Gambling

At the beginning of this month, China’s Ministry of Public Security published a report on its progress in cracking down on illegal gambling. In six months, the local law enforcement managed to take action against 10,000 criminal cases and 75,000 administrative cases related to gaming, primarily taking place in rural areas. Throughout the operation, local authorities seized a total of $104 million.

The ministry’s crackdown on gambling in rural areas began in November. Since then, the reports related to illegal gambling have been steadily declining, attesting to the efficiency of the operation.

To make sure that no more illegal gambling rings sprout up, China implemented monitoring policies and has so far established a total of 101 monitoring stations across the country.

Illegal gambling organizations in China would often target addicts and unemployed people, making them extra dangerous to public health. Qi Xiguo, an official of the Ministry of Public Security, promised to keep on working to protect Chinese citizens from illegal gambling.

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The defendants are believed to have been running an illegal gambling ring which operated in several verticals. The suspects are said to have facilitated various betting and gaming operations, including illegal poker games in Rochester and black market bets for sports betting events accepted through a website they had registered and worked with.

Multiple Suspects Helped Run the Illegal Business

The probe that led to their arrest was originally launched in October 2020 and culminated with the arrest of Louis P. Ferrari II and Dominic Sprague alongside co-conspirators Anthony Amato, Joseph Lomardo, Joseph Boscarino, James Cilvetti, and Tommaso Sessa.

Ferrari and Sprague are charged with running the illegal gambling ring whereas the other five defendants are said to have been charged with transmission of wagering information and other offences. Thomas Loewke, the state trooper involved, is accused of having tipped off the criminals about the ongoing probe against them.

Ferrari will also face charges of money laundering on top of the other charges brought against him. The culprits participated in the running of illegal gambling activities without a license, even though sports gambling has been licensed in person in various locations across the Empire State since 2019.

Ferrari and Sprague are named as the co-owners of the activity, whereas the other participants worked with the owners in various capacities. Sessa, for example, was charged with helping run the day-to-day operations at the location where the illegal ring operated from.

Ferrari was also involved in running the underhand bookmaking operation through an illegal online sportsbook called sport700.com. Lombardo and Boscarino are allegedly sub-agents for the website, whereas Amato is the alleged administrator. The investigators presented the infringement of each individual in detail, the result of the hard work put into locating and bringing a solid case against the entire operation.

Sinuous Network of Money Laundering and Illegal Gambling

To make sure that the losses of bettors were remitted back to the conspirators, Ferrari used his excavating business to launder the illegal proceedings. Before Ferrari would launder the proceedings, though, Sprague used his own pawn shop business to remit winnings to players and cash payments of gambling losses from bettors. Cilvetti was employed at the pawn shop.

The complaint brought against the defendants and Ferrari specifically highlights the discrepancies in the amounts registered by the business and the amounts paid out to people in cash, to the tune of $765,908 against cash revenue of only $97,232. The period of the payments and revenue covered April 2019 through January 2021.

The network was pretty impressive. Amato is believed to have operated 128 sub-agent accounts that were in charge of 1,789 individual bettors. More than $8,945,629 were placed in total wagers while the first account by Amato was set up in April 2016. The last wagers reported were placed in January 2021. The base of operation of the illegal gambling ring also hosted poker games without a license.

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