Illegal Online Gambling Operation Raided in Israel - 02-07-08
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February 7 - This week Israeli police arrested seven people and questioned eighteen others in Tel Aviv, on suspicion of running an illegal online gambling operation - Play2Bet.com - which is suspected of generating millions of dollars in online sports bets.
The Jerusalem Post ran a story highlighting how police arranged a surprise raid on the offices and homes of individuals suspected of being involved in the online sports betting operation, Play2Bet.com, and money laundering business, KG Money Changers.
Israeli police suspect that the accused - including Yossi Ben-Shitreet, David Hachmon, Aryeh Avraham and Eliran Oved - used KG Money Changers to launder millions of dollars generated by Play2Bet.com into a host of foreign-held bank accounts.
By all accounts, Israeli police got wind of the illegal online gambling when its Serious Crime Unit's undercover investigation team discovered that Play2Bet.com was a popular private online gambling website offering its online sports betting services illegally.
Players could only access and place bets on Play2Bet.com once they had been vetted by the operators, made gambling funds available to cover their bets and then been sent a personal log-in and password to make use of the online gambling website.