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ATLANTIC
CITY – Attorney General Anne Milgram,
New Jersey State Police Superintendent Colonel
Rick Fuentes and Criminal Justice Director
Gregory A. Paw announced that criminal charges
were filed this morning against the leader
and 22 other participants in a multi-million
dollar sports bookmaking ring that operated
inside the Borgata Hotel Casino poker room
and took in more than $22 million in bets
since March 2006. Six casino employees were
charged.
The
alleged leader of the gambling ring, Andrew
Micali, 32, of Ventnor, was arrested
on charges of promoting gambling, money
laundering and criminal usury. In addition,
three associates of Micali were arrested:
Vincent Procopio, 41, of
Brigantine, was charged with promoting gambling,
and Anthony Nicodemo, 36,
and Michael Lancellotti,
both of Philadelphia, were charged with
conspiracy to promote gambling.
A
supervisor in the Borgata poker room, Joseph
Wishnick, 42, of Brigantine, was
also arrested on a charge of promoting gambling.
Complaint summonses were issued charging
eighteen other individuals with promoting
gambling, money laundering or conspiracy.
They were not arrested.
“The
members of this gambling ring brazenly used
the Borgata Casino poker room to conduct
business and launder their criminal proceeds,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “They
sought to escape detection by enlisting
casino employees in their crimes. I’m
pleased to say they greatly underestimated
our vigilance and determination to keep
organized crime out of Atlantic City’s
casinos.”
The
charges stem from an investigation dubbed
“Operation High Roller” that
was led by the New Jersey State Police and
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice
with assistance from 11 other law enforcement
agencies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The investigation, which began in March
2006, revealed that Micali relied on a network
of agents to take in millions of dollars
in bets on college and professional football
and basketball. Micali, and his alleged
partner, Jack M. Buscemi Jr., 50, of Mullica
Hill, allegedly received a percentage of
the gambling proceeds collected by the agents.
Buscemi was charged by complaint summons
with promoting gambling.
“This
was an organized criminal group, including
licensed casino employees, that transformed
a high-end poker floor at the Borgata into
an underground sports betting ring that
siphoned $22 million out of the legitimate
gaming economy,” said Colonel Rick
Fuentes, Superintendent of the State Police.
“We
tracked the activities of this gambling
ring from the Borgata in Atlantic City to
Philadelphia, where we made additional arrests
and searched the so-called ‘wire rooms’
where the ring based its operations there,”
said Director Paw of the Division of Criminal
Justice. “We are putting a halt to
this criminal enterprise.”
It
is alleged that certain casino employees
ignored exchanges of cash and casino chips
made by the ring to avoid filing financial
reports that are required whenever a transaction
exceeds $10,000 or is suspicious in any
way. The reports are intended to prevent
money laundering at the casinos.
Investigators
conducted extensive surveillance and observed
the defendants conducting business in the
Borgata poker room. They observed defendants
accepting bets and settling up with bettors,
either by accepting payment on losses or
paying out to winners. It is alleged that
some losers were forced to accept loans
to cover their losses at an annual interest
rate exceeding 50 percent, in violation
of New Jersey’s criminal usury statute.
The
other casino employees charged via complaint
summons with promoting gambling are:
- Paul
Parks,
31, of Egg Harbor, another Borgata poker
room supervisor;
-
Austin Johnson-Brown,
35, of Atlantic City, a Borgata poker
dealer;
-
Robert McEwen,
26, of Edison, a Borgata poker dealer;
-
Matthew Weyler,
26, of Turnersville, a Borgata bartender;
and
-
Jeffrey Ebert,
45, of Ventnor, a Tropicana poker room
supervisor. Ebert was also charged with
criminal usury.
The
state obtained a court order freezing a
bank account of Micali’s containing
more than $200,000, and investigators seized
more than $40,000 in Borgata chips and cash
from his safe deposit box at the Borgata.
Search warrants were executed at two homes
in Ventnor, including Micali’s Princeton
Avenue home, where investigators seized
gambling records, a laptop computer and
a loaded .357 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
Investigators also searched Ebert’s
home, where they seized gambling records,
two computers and a small quantity of marijuana.
Additional gambling records, computers,
a handgun and $20,000 in cash were seized
in searches of three houses in Philadelphia,
including another home owned by Micali and
two “wire rooms” allegedly used
for gambling operations.
The Division of Gaming Enforcement will
be notified of the charges against each
of the licensed employees so that appropriate
administrative procedures can be initiated
against their licenses.
Attorney
General Milgram credited these agencies
for conducting and assisting the investigation:
-
New Jersey State Police Organized Crime
Control Bureau South
-
New Jersey State Police Casino Gaming
Bureau
-
New Jersey State Police Digital Technology
Investigation Unit
-
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice
-
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
-
Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General
- Organized Crime Section
-
Ventnor City P.D.
-
Margate P.D.
-
Harrison Township P.D.
- Sea
Isle City P.D.
- Galloway
Township P.D.
-
Brigantine P.D.
-
Egg Harbor Township P.D.
- Franklin
Township P.D.
-
Philadelphia Bureau of Narcotics Investigation
-
Borgata Security Department
-
Borgata Surveillance Department
These
additional defendants were charged as follows
by complaint summons:
-
Russell Brown, 44, Egg
Harbor - Promoting Gambling.
-
,
- Promoting Gambling.
-
Fekre Tesgaye,
50, Atlantic City - Money Laundering
-
Ian Blackman,
28, Mays Landing - Promoting Gambling,
Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Usury.
-
William DePena,
39, Philadelphia - Conspiracy to Promote
Gambling.
-
Joseph Baldino,
22, Philadelphia - Promoting Gambling.
- Frank
Baldino,
21, Philadelphia - Promoting Gambling
- Mark
Galasso,
23, Philadelphia - Conspiracy to Commit
Money Laundering.
-
Steven Cassassanto,
37, Philadelphia/Margate - Conspiracy
to Promote Gambling.
-
Douglas Rubino, 30, Philadelphia
- Promoting Gambling.
-
Matthew Zambaninni,
27, Bear, Del. - Promoting Gambling.
-
Robert Mackie,
39, Staten Island, N.Y. - Promoting Gambling
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