Canadian Police In Internet Gambling Bust

Canadian law enforcement, led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted an online gambling raid this week, resulting in the arrests of several suspects.

The raid was the result of a two year investigation called Project Amethyst, where Canadian authorities have investigated the illegal betting activities. While conducting the investigation authorities noticed that millions of dollars of sports bets were taking place, mainly on the NFL, NHL, and the Olympics.

Speaking about the crime ring, RCMP Superintendent Sylvain Berthiaume said: “It’s a very lucrative operation that yielded a hefty profit. The fact that it’s illegal brings a whole new set of problems to people who owe money to individuals.”

The raid was carried out by the joint law enforcement officials from the RCMP, Ottawa Police, and OPP.

Those arrested in the raid were identified as: Benedetto Manasseri (49) of Ottawa; Stephen Parrish (45) of Ottawa; Gary Saikaley (49) of Ottawa; Eric Russel (54) of Thorne, Que.; Daniel Landreville (37) Aylmer; William Hamel (47) of Gatineau; Christopher Oliver (27) of Ottawa; David Ross (46) of Ottawa; Kyle Michael Gourgon (28) of Ottawa; Patrick Moulton (31) of Ottawa; Ramzi Sayah (38) of Ottawa; Ajay Bhandari (32) of Ottawa; Robin Golby (37) of Ottawa; Daniel Ranieri (28) of Bolton, Ont.; Jules Alter (59) of Ottawa; Michael Delorme (27) currently incarcerated; Lucien St-Jean (64) of Plantagenet, Ont.; Simon Leclair, (70) of Orléans; Alain Normand (50) of Plantagenet; Guylaine Duval (49) of Plantagenet; and Domenico Arecchi (47) of Ottawa.