Online Gambling Helped Fund Gambino Crime Family Enterprise

Could you imagine organized crime bosses having to pay taxes on money they received from their online gambling operations. That would be the case if the government ever wised up and regulated the industry.

Illegal gambling and organized crime feed off one another. Usually, when an organized crime member is indicted, a gambling charge is involved.

A queens district attorney has revealed that the Gambino family crime enterprise was partly funded by illegal online gambling. Several different sites were being used in conjunction with toll free phone numbers to allow illegal gambling activity. The gambling brought in over $10 million to the Gambino family in two years, according to the DA.

This is part of the reason that some lawmakers are pushing for the Internet gambling industry to be regulated. with regulations, people would have non threatening places that they would be able to place bets legally. This would help stop the billions of dollars that are currently going into the pockets of organized crime members.

"Illegal gambling has always been the bread and butter moneymaker for organized crime because of the huge profits that it generates, which can be used to fund other more insidious forms of criminal activity, such as ..racketeering, drug trafficking, prostitution, and..loan sharking," said Richard Brown, the Queens District Attorney.

February 8, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!