Adam Meyer is waiting to stand trial on numerous fees in a Wisconsin court that is federal the previous high-stakes sports betting handicapper initially claiming through his lawyer that he was a government informant.
Adam Meyer proclaimed for years he was ‘the activities consultant to the stars,’ the Florida-based recreations handicapper routinely appearing on tv to flaunt his insider knowledge and results that are unrivaled.
His Real Money Sports website described Meyer as ‘the biggest star in Las Vegas’ whoever ‘client list checks out like the front web page of Variety.’
‘If there is a result, Adam will show you how to turn it into an earnings,’ their bio read.
Unfortunately for many who took Meyer up on his solutions, the outcome turned into money for only Meyer himself.
In December of 2014, a Wisconsin jury that is grand Meyer on six charges including wire fraud, racketeering, and extortion relating to a rich Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, man who claimed to possess been taken for $25 million.
Meyer’s Tainted Past
At the height of Meyer’s procedure, he had been reportedly recharging well over $250,000 for a package of betting tips and suggestions of games where in actuality the fix was in. Meyer’s items would advise clients on just how to wager and which teams to pick.
He stated to hire an extensive research staff 130 strong and asserted his guidelines was included with a 60 per cent winnings percentage.
‘Meyer promoted his tout service through his website, by marketing, by appearing on tv and radio programs, and by cold-calling potential customers from client listings he obtained from other tout services,’ the US Eastern District of Wisconsin Court reported in its indictment.
Gary Sadoff, owner of Badger Liquor in Wisconsin, hawaii’s wholesaler that is largest of alcoholic beverages, said Meyer began threatening him as he reduced their sports betting.
Meyer presumably created an alter ego called Kent Wong who was a bookie after Meyer and Sadoff.
When Sadoff finally cut off all ties, Meyer and an associate turned up in Wisconsin and furnished a firearm, Sadoff ponying up $9.8 million to help keep Meyer away.
Sports Betting’s Donnie Brasco?
Following the state of Wisconsin indicted Meyer, their attorney at the full time stated he ended up being working as an undercover informant for government authorities. Utilising the ‘public authority defense’ by which a defendant claims their actions that are criminal the consequence of police direction, Meyer’s former attorney Joel Hirschhorn said his client’s cooperation with legal investigators began back 2001.
‘Faced with an indictment that is possible; Meyer began a 13-year odyssey as a documented and valuable informant for federal and state law enforcement,’ Hirschhorn said in March.
Hirschhorn additionally claims within the documents released this that Meyer’s work helped seize $750 million from offshore books and led to the arrest of 30 individuals week.
Meyer’s $1 million bail was revoked in April following repeated drug test failures in a rehabilitation facility in their hometown in Florida. Because bail ended up being revoked, Meyer had been extradited to Wisconsin where he’s increasingly being held in the Dodge County Detention center.
For reasons unspecified, Hirschhorn is not any longer employed by Meyer. The case is slated to begin with in February, and it remains to be viewed whether Meyer will carry on with his claims that his undercover work had been so secretive federal prosecutors didn’t have admission to such knowledge, or he’ll enter another plea.
US Attorney General Loretta Lynch Indicts 16 More FIFA Officials
The investigation into FIFA corruption expanded this week after US Attorney General Loretta Lynch filed charges against 16 officials that are additional. (Image: Don Emmert/Getty)
United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch is within the midst of disrupting possibly one of the largest criminal syndicates in recent history as she leads the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into FIFA, the;ration that is fédé de Football Association.
On Thursday, Lynch unsealed a 92-count indictment against 16 defendants regarding the continued FIFA corruption case.
That brings the number that is total of to 30 since the DOJ swarmed FIFA last May.
This week’s accused stem from CONCACAF, FIFA’s North and Central America supply, and CONMEBOL, the Southern America division. The defendants are being charged with racketeering, wire fraudulence, and cash laundering conspiracies.
‘The Department of Justice is committed to closing the corruption that is rampant have alleged amidst the leadership of international soccer, not just because associated with scale of the schemes, or the brazenness and breadth of the operation needed to sustain such corruption, but additionally because of the affront to worldwide maxims that this behavior represents,’ Lynch said. ‘The betrayal of trust set forth here is outrageous.’
$200 Million Exchanged
Lynch maintains that leaders among FIFA besought bribes in return for various legal rights including the hosting associated with the global World Cup and qualifiers for soccer’s marquee competition held every four years.
According to DOJ estimations, $200 million was solicited over the very last 24 years.
The prosecution indicts both CONCACAF and CONMEBOL presidents that are sitting with several members who co-serve on FIFA’s executive committee.
Also within the indictment was Jeffrey Webb’s guilty plea, the former FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president admitting to racketeering, conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud, and three counts of cash laundering. Webb has consented to forfeit $6.7 million.
‘We are determined to put an end to bribery and corruption in international soccer also to make room for the new era of integrity and reform,’ US Attorney Robert Capers associated with Eastern District of New York stated. ‘ This indictment is the step that is latest in that effort, but our work is not done.’
Future of FIFA
The charges brought by the DOJ came at an opportune time as FIFA happens to be assembled in Switzerland for just two times of meetings in Zurich. The most essential product of discussion is overhauling the organization through extensive reforms.
As Lynch’s office brought new fees against FIFA associates, soccer’s governing body voted unanimously to implement a series of proposals to refurbish the company.
Incorporated into the modifications is a four-year term limit for the presidency, outgoing President Sepp Blatter has been holding the reigns since 1998.
Additional reforms accept a separation between political and administration committees, variety, independent members, integrity checks, plus an overall greater transparency.
‘These reforms are moving FIFA towards improved governance, greater transparency and much more accountability,’ the FIFA Executive Committee stated in a press release. ‘They mark a milestone on our course towards restoring FIFA’s credibility as a modern, trusted and professional sports organization.’
Restoring credibility will be a long and hard road for FIFA with Lynch in charge of the DOJ. She shows no signs of slowing her thorough research into the managing of the entire world’s most sport that is popular.
‘The Department of Justice is dedicated to closing the corruption that is rampant have actually described amidst the leadership of international soccer,’ Lynch affirmed.
Mohegan Sun Blackjack Dealer Accused of Chip-Passing Scam
A Mohegan Sun blackjack dealer allegedly attempted to get back at his employers by going in cahoots with a player. Both have now been accused of conspiring to rob the casino. (Image: wzlx.cbslocal.com)
A disgruntled Mohegan Sun blackjack dealer stands accused of moving $78,390 in chips up to a player-accomplice.
It’s alleged that Roy Mariano, 52, of New London, Connecticut, passed blackjack chips worth $100 each that had been hidden in stacks of lower denomination red chips to Marlene Rivera of Southbridge, Massachusetts during 16 blackjack that is different in August of this year. Both have been faced with first-degree larceny.
Mariano admitted to police that a grudge was had by him against his employers. The dealer, who’d worked at the casino as it first launched in 1996, had been upset that management had reduced his role from full-time to part-time. He is needed and handicapped the cash, he said, as recorded in court papers.
Conflicting Reports
Mariano claims that he was approached in May or June by Rivera, who had told him she may help him out with money. He began giving her extra chips each time he paid her winnings, and she would hand him his cut as he stepped from the dining table to the break room. He claimed he could not remember how much money he had received from Rivera.
The dealer’s lawyer entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of first-degree larceny for his client, which comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison despite the apparent confession.
Rivera, 36, a mother of seven, tells a various story.
She said that Mariano approached her boyfriend, and that the two had concocted the scheme together. The boyfriend played several times, she claims, in which he and Mariano allegedly split the winnings 50-50. Her half the winnings, the woman added when she later began playing too, Mariano also gave.
Police said they suspected that Rivera, that has yet to enter a plea, was being deceptive during her interview.
Facebook Gloating
Rivera’s Facebook page records a few winning visits to an unnamed casino in August, followed by a holiday to Las Vegas in September. The August social media marketing articles include messages like:
‘Great at cino night’
‘Casino evening again$$$’
‘Whacha think Joe… a car? Lol monneeyyy…cha-ching!!’
Even though the scheme eluded supervisors on duty, it was fundamentally picked up by the eye-in-the-sky. The Mohegan Tribal Police began examining surveillance footage on September 1st at the request of Tribal Gaming Commissioner Robert Bjork.
Also hiding $100 chips in stacks of five-dollar ones, additionally showed Mariano hiding one $100 chip beneath a card utilized to cut the deck before passing it to Rivera.