11/31/03 2:32 PM EST

Are Bookies Getting Wiser?

Christopher Costigan, Sports911.com

When the beat artist son of a New York City based capo attempted to enter into a number of offshore sports books claiming to be an agent, very few books took the bait, thus sparing these businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses that would have been scammed by this guy.  Sports911.com was instrumental in warning those operations where he was starting to make inroads. 

But are offshore bookies becoming wiser?  Apparently not.

Many continue to exchange monies via agents on US soil, some oblivious to the fact that a few of these "agents" may be collecting more than just money from the sports book.

Sports911.com has long discouraged offshore sports books from conducting money transfer activities within the United States proper.  Now might be a more important time than any to drive home these points in light of the fact that this website anticipates a major crackdown of such activity starting with the new year. 

Remember, we are not just talking bookmaking here, but rather a loosely coined term "bookmakers plus".  Booking bets is one thing, and doing it offshore really is not such a big deal.  In fact the US Treasury Department has been instrumental in getting Panama's online gaming industry jump started.  Exchanging large sums of money on US soil is a big deal.  This can widely be misconstrued as "money laundering". 

Since 9/11, law enforcement agencies have aggressively gone after those individuals they perceive as violating the Patriot Act.  While bookmaking in and of itself may not be an extraditable offense, money laundering and tax evasion offenses are.  Sentencing for these types of charges encompass more than just a slap on the wrist or a one to two year sentence. 

As a public service announcement, Sports911 advises that offshore bookies looking to exchange monies on US soil via agents (or the bookmakers themselves) follow some sound advise:

Don't do it!

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