In Ontario, one of the country’s most populated provinces the Ontario Provincial Police have moved forward with the charges on people that have allegedly overseen an illegal sports gambling ring. The Canadian Revenue Agency recently executed a total of twelve search and judicial warrants expanding the seized assets of the investigation by $24 million CND dollars.
In December of 2019, the Ontario Provincial Police unveiled its ongoing investigation into an alleged illegal gambling ring in the Mississauga area close to Toronto. A total of five gambling web domains operating without a license were located. The web domains were being associated with Hells Angels motorcycle club members who had been maintaining them for some time. An extensive gambling ring blanketing the province seeking sports betting fans was suspected.
Many enforcement agencies were pleased with the results of Project Hobart in 2019 when as many as eighteen organizations uncovered the illegal online sports gambling operations. The Ontario Provincial Police alleged then that as much as $131 million Canadian dollars had been made over the last five years from the illegal sports betting operations.
In the first quarter of 2019 the illegal gambling operation is said to have made $13 million CND. The suspect five online sports domains were named Ultimate SB, Titan SB, PlaytoWin SB, Privada SB, and Players SB. The results from the Hobart project which was begun in 2018 were not realized until late 2019.
There were 28 people arrested then on 228 charges with CA$12 million in assets and cash seized during the raid. On July 29 2020 twelve more warrants were executed covering the areas of London, Oakville, Toronto, Pickering, Welland, and Thornbury in Ontario.
The most recent warrants saw some CND $24 million in assets seized. Three more individuals were charged with money laundering and possession of the proceeds of crime. Robert Barletta a Hell Angels member was arrested again on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Those accused will see their day in the Ontario Court of Justice on September 17, 2020.
