BetOnSports.com Gambling Site Worker Pleads Guilty After Stealing Gamblers Personal Info
An employee of the offshore Internet gambling website BetOnSports.com has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his role in a large Internet-based identity theft ring. BetOnSports PLC does not exist since July 2006 and the Antigua Financial Services Regulatory Commission is assisting/supervising its settlements with creditors, customers and employees. The ex-CEO David Carruthers was arrested in Dallas in July, 2006 and the founder, Gary Stephen Kaplan was arrested in March, 2007. From 2001 through July, 2006 BetOnSports allegedly took in as much as $3.5 billion in wagers.
The former employee has admitted he used his position in the company’s credit department to steal the identities of some of its clients. Patrick Kalonji, 27, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, pleaded guilty in US District Court in the Southern District of New York late last week. While living in Costa Rica, he worked for BetOnSports.com, which was one source used to steal the personal information of victims. In all, Kalonji and his unnamed cohorts defrauded 150 people, including those residing in Texas, Florida, Arkansas, and California.
Kalonji - who also went by the names Patrick Kalonji Ngoyi and Patrick Mazimpaka - stole the victims’ names, birth dates, addresses, mothers’ maiden names, social security numbers, and other personal details. He shared them with other members of a criminal enterprise using two Yahoo.com email addresses. Those members used the stolen information to steal money from victims’ credit cards and bank accounts and book round-trip airline tickets from Nigeria to New York.
The conspiracy lasted from July 2002 through August 2004, according to an indictment filed in the case. Kalonji faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
If you believe you were a victim of this crime, including a victim entitled to restitution, and you wish to provide information to law enforcement and/or receive notice of future developments in the case or additional information, please contact Wendy Olsen-Clancy, the Victim Witness Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (866) 874-8900.
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