In a joint operation called "Risky Bet," the mask was lifted from an illegal internet gambling scheme that drew in NIS 340 million (about $90 million) in the past two years.
Investigators from the police economic crimes unit, the specialized crime-fighting umbrella unit Lahav 433, the Tax Authority, the State Prosecution, and the Anti-Money Laundering Task Force arrested 36 suspects in the case Monday morning.
The under-cover investigation took place over the past year and a half and included police officers, Tax Authority investigators, and a team of prosecutors. During the operation, a pyramid of those involved was revealed, including the owners and partners of the website, the technical support and web-builders, bookies, as well as hundreds of gamblers.
A task force of more than 300 police officers and tax assessors swooped down on the houses of 30 suspects in the north, center, and south. Dozens of gamblers were summoned for investigation. Property worth tens of millions of shekels was also seized. Receipts and money from money exchange booths in the center of the country were found.
In addition, houses were foreclosed and vehicles were impounded. The police also confiscated computers and the website's servers.
Intelligence was received at the beginning of 2008 about a 38-year-old man of Or Yehuda, who allegedly was operating a gambling website called betbet.us. The name was changed to bet555.net in January 2009.
An investigation revealed that the site placed bets worth hundreds of millions of shekels in the past two and a half years. The site's revenues stood at 3% at the beginning of operations and currently stood at 5%. These figures translated into millions of shekels in net profit for the site's operators.
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