Internet gambling mogul Calvin Ayre, who frequently taunted U.S. federal authorities from his luxury penthouse in Yaletown, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland for allegedly running an illegal sports gambling enterprise and conspiring to launder money.
Also indicted were three of Ayre’s associates who, until last year, operated out of a Bodog-related office at 333 Seymour Street in downtown Vancouver.
They are Vancouver chartered accountant James Philip; former controller and head of e-commerce David Ferguson, who commuted to Vancouver from his home in Kelowna but is now believed to be living in London, UK; and media buyer Derrick Maloney.
The indictment was filed a week ago in Baltimore and unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Baltimore on Tuesday. None of the four men has been arrested. If any are currently on Canadian soil, they risk arrest and extradition by Canadian authorities.
U.S. federal prosecutors are alleging that, from at least June 2005 to January this year, the four defendants:
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• Conducted an illegal gambling business involving online sports betting.
• Transferred at least $100 million from Bodog’s accounts located in Switzerland, England, Malta, Canada and elsewhere to pay winnings to gamblers in Maryland and elsewhere in the United States.
• Spent $42 million through an unnamed media company to advertise directly to gamblers based in the United States.
“Sports betting is illegal in Maryland, and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flouting that law simply because they are located outside the country,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated in a release.
“Many of the harms that underlie gambling prohibitions are exacerbated when the enterprises operate over the internet without regulation.”
In a concurrent action, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized the Bodog.com betting site.
What effect the seizure will have on Bodog’s business is not clear. Bodog.com had already been directing customers to a new site, Bovada.lv. And by all appearances, it’s business as usual for the Canadian website, Bodog.ca.
On his website, CalvinAyre.com, Ayre lashed out at U.S. authorities: “I see this as abuse of the US criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large US corporations,” he stated.
“It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents is it also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion.”
Each of the four men face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for allegedly conducting an illegal gambling business, and 20 years for the alleged money-laundering conspiracy. Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of any and all assets that the defendants derived from their allegedly illegal enterprise.
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