Internet implications in New York gambling bust

The nationwide federal clampdown on gambling rings in the United States was apparent in New York Tuesday when FBI agents swooped on numerous locations in the city and elsewhere in the U.S., making a number of arrests.

Among the premises visited by agents was billionaire Helly Nahmad’s art gallery in the luxury Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue.

Unofficial sources told media reporters that the raids were part of a widespread federal investigation into a gambling operation that was allegedly associated with a Russian-organised crime group that ran high-stakes poker games involving Wall Street financiers, Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes.

The investigation, which has reportedly led to the arrests of dozens of people, was largely focused on Internet gambling and money laundering, the sources disclosed.

Most of the defendants in the case were arrested in New York, sources revealed, but among those charged were people who live in Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and elsewhere. The charges include gambling and money laundering.

It was not clear how the internet element was represented in the affair when we went to press.

Official spokesmen later said that charges in the case will be announced later Tuesday by the United States attorney in Manhattan and officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The New York Times reported that during the raid, which began early Tuesday morning, agents executed a search warrant at the Helly Nahmad gallery.