Texas Trio
Charged in Illegal Online Gambling Bust
June 19 - The sleepy U.S. town of Montgomery, Texas, made news
headlines this week after three of its residents were arrested
as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal online
gambling operations and money laundering.
The three accused, Justin Franciscotty, his wife Ana
Franciscotty, and his sister-in-law Stephanie Uselton, were
arrested on Tuesday by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and charged with second-degree
felony money laundering.
The trio allegedly received large amounts of currency through
the U.S. postal service related to their online sports betting
site hosted in Costa Rica.
If convicted, each of the accused could be imprisoned for
between 2 to 20 years, in addition to being fined up to $10,000.
Said SIU Sergeant, David Womack, 'Our investigation uncovered
information that the Montgomery residence where the accused were
living, was receiving large amounts of money from all over the
United States. These were found to be related to their Costa
Rica-based online sports betting operation.
'Even though their online gambling operation was based outside
of the country, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to operate
offshore online gaming websites,' he said.
Under the Texas Penal Code Chapter 34, it is illegal to engage
in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity,
source and destination of money.
During the arrests, investigators found bills for expensive
hotel rooms in Cancun, Mexico as well a number of high-value
Rolex watches, diamond necklaces and other valuable items that
were allegedly purchased with laundered money.
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