Feds Bust Offshore Book that wasn't OFFSHORE

[bgeorgia]

rEAD IT HERE

[Jeff]

FEDS BUST OFFSHORE SPORTSBOOK OPERATOR WHO WASN'T OFFSHORE
BY RAJ VISHNU

An offshore sportsbook operator whose book was featured on an HBO expose has been charged with illegal gambling, bookmaking and money laundering, Federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Keith Varga, 40, of Bath, Pa., owned and operated telephone sportsbook 21st Century Sports from Pennsylvania and Aruba, a small Caribbean island, they said.

If convicted of all charges, Varga faces a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison and a one million dollar fine, plus forfeiture of three-quarters of a million dollars in 21st Century Sports profits, they said.

Three years ago, in an episode of "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," an investigative sports program on HBO, Jim Lampley narrated a 15-minute segment about the offshore sports betting industry.

Included in that segment was mention of 21st Century Sports, although Varga was neither shown nor named.

Lampley, in a now-memorable scene, traveled to the Aruba address where 21st Century Sports said it was located and showed that the address was a vacant lot.

Lampley also interviewed Aruban government officials who said offshore sports betting was not legal in Aruba, despite claims to the contrary by 21st Century Sports.

The HBO program then showed a house in Bethlehem, Pa., where it said 21st Century Sports actually operated from.

In a 10-page Federal criminal complaint, prosecutors said Varga operated 21st Century Sports from Bethlehem, Pa., Allentown, Pa., Nazareth, Pa., and Oranjestad, Aruba.

Sports bettors would wire money by Western Union to a bank account in Aruba, where Varga traveled every four to six weeks to collect the funds, they said.

Varga would pick up about $25,000 on each trip and upon return to the U.S. deposit the money in U.S. bank accounts, hiding the origin of the funds, they said.

In a three-month period in 1998, 21st Century Sports received almost 25,000 telephone calls from customers making sports wagers or seeking information about making sports wagers, they said.

In a 15-month period covering 1997 and 1998, Varga received 2,628 Western Union wire transfers totalling $775,769, Federal prosecutors said.

Varga remains free and is scheduled to appear in Federal Court in Philadelphia next week, they said.

Before running 21st Century Sports, Varga worked in Whitehall, Pa., as marketing manager and oddsmaker for English Sports Betting (ESB), a telephone sportsbook in Jamaica owned by Dennis Atiyeh of Whitehall.

After Varga left ESB to run his own book, Atiyeh sued Varga for stealing ESB's customer list.

That case never reached trial.

An Atiyeh flak then tipped off HBO about Varga's 21st Century Sports scam.

Atiyeh faced his own Federal gambling charges earlier this year but was acquitted after a jury trial in Philadelphia.

This is not Varga's first brush with the law.

According to police and court records, Varga was arrested in 1990 in Northampton, Pa, for receiving stolen property in connection with an electronics store burglary.

Varga is also a "deadbeat dad," failing to pay child support for two illegitimate children.

[Jeff]

21st Century is also a resident of the clink......apparantly it wasn't a successful operation either.

[Dragon]

I remember in the special they made a point to point out that running the sportsbook wasn't the big issue here. The issue was making trips, several of them, to Aruba to pick up the cash. That opens up a whole new can of worms. He would have been better off just having the money sent to PA!

[Avs]

Whatever happened to the ol slap on the wrist they usually give bookies? 27 years seems harsh.

[<BWorld>]

There's more to the case than just bookmaking. He'll end up paying a fine and getting off though. Wait and see.