Colbert fired from Cantor Gaming
Former sportsbook director makes initial court appearance " faces eight charges including enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy.
Cantor Gaming’s former sportsbook director Mike Colbert is no longer with the company, according to a statement made by a company spokesperson in response to his alleged involvement in illegal bookmaking and money laundering.
Colbert appeared in court yesterday at the Las Vegas Justice Court. His next appearance is scheduled for 8 November in front of Judge Joe Bonaventure and his US$50,000 bail has been posted.
The former Cantor Gaming employee faces eight charges, including enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy. His arrest last week was part of a major national investigation with 25 individuals facing 225 charges.
Cantor Gaming spokesman Robert Hubbell said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Although the charges were not related to his responsibilities at Cantor Gaming, it is important to note that our account wagering system is designed to prevent misconduct. However, after we were made aware of the accusations against our former employee, we immediately commenced an extensive analysis of our records and accounts to ensure that the services we provide were not in any way jeopardized and to date have found nothing to indicate that this employee was using our system or accounts for wrongdoing.
“The former employee’s responsibilities with Cantor Gaming had nothing do with accepting or distributing patron money,” he added.
Alderney and Curacao-licensed operator Pinnacle Sports is one of four sites referenced in Colbert’s indictment and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) is set to conduct an investigation into Pinnacle Sports Europe. The operator has issued a response to the developments, explaining “Pinnacle Sports itself was not charged in the indictment [and] we expect no interruptions to our day to day business activities.”
The indictment alleges that offshore sites www.pinnaclesports.com, www.jazzsports.net/com, www.wager4you.com and www.playhera.ag were illegally used to acquire money by accepting bets on sporting events. It is also alleged that the defendants maintained gambling accounts of several agents, intermediaries between players and the website operators, offshore in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
Colbert and seven others were arrested in Las Vegas, while the other 17 arrests were made in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and California. The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s enforcement division has been working with the NYPD on the case for the past 15 months and more than $7.6m in cash and gambling chips have been seized.