Canadian online gambling bust

A multi-force Canadian police raid, led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was conducted in the Ottawa region this week on suspicions relating to an illegal online gambling operation.

The two-year investigation dubbed Project Amethyst has seen the arrest of twenty-one people in total who were allegedly involved in an operation that saw millions of dollars placed on wagers, mostly relating to sports events covering the NHL, NFL and the Olympics.

“It’s a very lucrative operation that yielded a hefty profit” said RCMP Supt. Sylvain Berthiaume, with organized crime and border security programs. “The fact that it’s illegal brings a whole new set of problems to people who owe money to individuals.”

Project Amethyst carried out by multi-departmental police forces that included the RCMP, OPP and the Ottawa Police, arrested another six suspects this week.

A collective 54 charges have been laid against the accused that include producing marijuana, gaming, extortion, bookmaking and organized crime offences.

The Ottawa Citizen names the twenty-one people arrested in Project Amethyst as: Benedetto Manasseri (49) of Ottawa; Stephen Parrish (45) of Ottawa; Gary Saikaley (49) of Ottawa; Eric Russel (54) of Thorne, Que.; Daniel Landreville (37) Aylmer; William Hamel (47) of Gatineau; Christopher Oliver (27) of Ottawa; David Ross (46) of Ottawa; Kyle Michael Gourgon (28) of Ottawa; Patrick Moulton (31) of Ottawa; Ramzi Sayah (38) of Ottawa; Ajay Bhandari (32) of Ottawa; Robin Golby (37) of Ottawa; Daniel Ranieri (28) of Bolton, Ont.; Jules Alter (59) of Ottawa; Michael Delorme (27) currently incarcerated; Lucien St-Jean (64) of Plantagenet, Ont.; Simon Leclair, (70) of Orléans; Alain Normand (50) of Plantagenet; Guylaine Duval (49) of Plantagenet; and Domenico Arecchi (47) of Ottawa.

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