Wednesday, March 21, 2007

A Miami, Florida, executive and his wife, charged with participating in an
unlawful online gambling operation that booked more than $3.3 billion in
wagers over a 28-month period, have pleaded guilty to felony charges in the
case. Daniel B. Clarin, 32, and his wife, Melissa Clarin, 31, both of Miami,
Florida, both entered guilty pleas. He pleaded guilty to enterprise
corruption, a violation of New York State's Organized Crime Control Act, and
Mrs. Clarin pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy before Queens Supreme
Court Justice Stephen Knopf who set sentencing for April 26. The judge
indicated that he would likely sentence Clarin to an indeterminate term of
two and one-third to seven years in prison and order him to forfeit $254,356
and would sentence Mrs. Clarin to a three-year conditional discharge, the
condition being that she forfeit $72,508 in illegal earnings. "The
defendants have admitted to be being major players in an incredibly
lucrative. and illegal, global gambling operation that took in untold
millions of dollars in unlawfully earned proceeds through casinos, shell
corporations and bank accounts in a variety of locations around the globe,
including Central America, the Caribbean, Switzerland, Hong Kong and
elsewhere", Queens district attorney Richard Brown said. Wagers were placed
on a wide variety of sporting events ranging from horseracing, football,
baseball, basketball and hockey to NASCAR, PGA golf and professional tennis,
among others. The District Attorney said that in pleading guilty Clarin
admitted that between July 14, 2004, and Nov. 2, 2006, he worked as the
"comptroller" of the criminal enterprise, Playwithal gambling organization,
and was responsible for managing the enterprise's day-to-day operations and
handling bettor disputes and accounting discrepancies, as well as managing
account information of the various runners and bettors. He further admitted
that he was responsible for monitoring the enterprise's toll-free telephone
numbers and website - including the playwithal.com website specified in the
indictment - which were used to accept and receive bets from bettors and
other individuals located in Queens County and elsewhere. The District
Attorney said Mrs. Clarin admitted that she worked as a "financial officer"
for the enterprise during the same time period and conspired with others to
assist in laundering more than $1 million in illegal gambling proceeds
through various financial institutions overseas and elsewhere to conceal or
disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the proceeds
of the illegal gambling operation and to allow her and other members of the
enterprise to illegally acquire more money.