Mafia Ties Suspected With Online Gambling Site

Gambling News - December 22nd, 2009 - Written by Glen

Paradise Bet, a gambling firm based out of the United Kingdom, has recently seen its license suspended. This comes after an asset freezing, as authorities have been investigating the possibility of the site's involvement with the Mafia.

Whether or not Paradise Bet is truly married to the mob's illegal activities is another question.

Paradise Bet has, according to BNet, been linked to the Parisi crime family. The Parisi Clan had been under investigation for nearly three years.

In the culmination of the investigation, over 600 bank accounts were seized, as well as other assets totaling at nearly 200 million pounds.

Paradise Bet had been licensed to operate an online casino and general betting back in 2007. It was reported that the site had been on a roller coaster ride of profits, losing millions then gaining more.

Though the license to operate these gambling sites has been revoked, the implications of the best run even deeper. Amongst the arrests were seventy four people, including the leader of the Parisi Clan, Savino Parisi. According to reports, politicians and businessmen had also been implicated in the investigation. Amongst the crimes were loan-sharking, drug trafficking, attempted murder, and money laundering.

Unfortunately, crimes such as the money laundering make all online gambling sites look bad, as money laundering is one of the biggest crimes that the prohibition of Online Gambling seeks to abate. Whether or not this seizure and the indictments will have any long running effect on the legality of online gambling is up in the air. Italian authorities had taken part in the investigation, which comes to a head only months after the Italian government had discussed online gambling.