Quebec police bust online sports betting ring

The police in Montreal, Quebec have busted a major online sports betting ring, with ten persons pleading guilty this week on charges of illegal bookmaking.
Police spokesmen claimed that the ring, which handled over 800 000 bets involving some Cdn$26 million during a seventeen month period, was one of the largest to be broken up in Canadian organised crime history.
The mafia in Montreal invested in the business and collected a slice of the action in return for providing protection for the ring’s agents and assistance in collecting bad debts.
Most of the bets were on a diversity of US sports such as football, basketball, and baseball.
Prominent among those charged, and facing additional indictments were alleged ringleaders Domenico Velenosi and Carmelo Cannistraro.
All ten accuseds will be sentenced on January 19 2011 following their guilty pleas. Illegal bookmaking carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment.

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