{"id":39627,"date":"2016-09-13T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T22:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=39627"},"modified":"2016-10-12T15:25:17","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T22:25:17","slug":"hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/","title":{"rendered":"Hell\u2019s Angels-Operated and Mafia-Linked Online Sports Book Techie Fined $400,000"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Platinum
The London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels, were in court this week for links to Platinum Sports Book. (Image: Toronto Star)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tech guy for an online sports book operated by the Hell\u2019s Angels and with links to the Canadian Mafia has been fined CA$400,000 by a Toronto court.<\/p>\n

Gordon Baird, 59, pled guilty to being the web administrator of Platinum Sports Book, a credit betting operation with servers based in Costa Rica. Police say Platinum used members of the London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels Chapter and the Mafia<\/a> as bookmaking agents and enforcers.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The sports book was shut down in 2013 following a police raid on a Super Bowl party spread for the site\u2019s VIPs in Toronto. With 2,700 guests and an open bar, the court heard that it cost $100,000 to put on.<\/p>\n

Police arrested 31 people at the party and later confiscated $4.6 million in illegal betting proceeds, as well as seizing the PlatinumSB.com domain.<\/p>\n

But within hours the gambling ring loaded an identical website using a .tk domain, which signifies registration in Tokelau, a tiny island in the South Pacific.<\/p>\n

One Hundred Million in Revenues<\/b><\/h2>\n

Baird, who was not one of the site\u2019s owners, was spared a lengthy prison sentence because he pled guilty and has no previous convictions. He has one year to pay the fine and will receive three years in prison if he fails to do so.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHe was not a controlling mind of the criminal organization but through his actions he contributed to the criminal organization,\u201d said Justice John McMahon, sentencing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThis was an extremely well-organized, professional criminal organization<\/a> making millions of dollars,\u201d he added. \u201cIt could not have functioned without his technical expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police wiretaps revealed that Platinum employed several hundred bookies who catered to thousands of customers within the Toronto area. Company records seized by police show that between 2009 and 2013 the outfit generated over $103 million in revenues.<\/p>\n

Sophisticated Pyramid<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cThe operation is best viewed as a highly sophisticated and organized pyramid-type structure,\u201d court documents read. \u201cThe pyramid structure involved a number of \u2018cells\u2019 consisting of bookies and their sub-agents signing up bettors\/clients. These cells in turn are all connected to the top of the pyramid structure by those managing the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the same courthouse, Rob Bartella, a former president of the London Hell\u2019s Angels, and co-accomplice Andrew Bielli, pleaded not guilty to charges that included bookmaking for the benefit of a criminal organization and possession of the proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n

Bartella walked over to watch Baird\u2019s plea after his own case had adjourned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tech guy for an online sports book operated by the Hell\u2019s Angels and with links to the Canadian Mafia has been fined CA$400,000 by a Toronto court. Gordon Baird, 59, pled guilty to being the web administrator of Platinum Sports Book, a credit betting operation with servers based in Costa Rica. Police say Platinum […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":39630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,13,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHell\u2019s Angels-Operated and Mafia-Linked Platinum Sports Book Techie Fined $400,000<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Platinum sports book was operated by the London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels with links to Mafia, say courts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hell\u2019s Angels-Operated and Mafia-Linked Platinum Sports Book Techie Fined $400,000\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Platinum sports book was operated by the London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels with links to Mafia, say courts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-13T22:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-12T22:25:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"349\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/\",\"name\":\"Hell\u2019s Angels-Operated and Mafia-Linked Platinum Sports Book Techie Fined $400,000\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-13T22:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-12T22:25:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Platinum sports book was operated by the London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels with links to Mafia, say courts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hells-angels-operated-mafia-linked-platinum-sports-book-tech-guy-fined-400000\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":349,\"caption\":\"The London, Ontario Hell\u2019s Angels, were in court this week for links to Platinum Sports Book. 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