It was the high-tech key to a massive, illegal gambling kingdom a laptop
computer that authorities say was owned by professional poker player James
Giordano.
Giordano, who rarely let the laptop out of his sight, unknowingly took a
gamble earlier this year by leaving it behind while attending a wedding in a
New York suburb, said police. In the three hours he and his wife were away
from their Long Island hotel room, New York Police Department investigators
armed with a search warrant and computer expertise sneaked in, found the
laptop on a desk and made a digital copy of the hard drive before the couple
returned.
The covert operation helped unlock a sophisticated online US$1
billion-a-year gambling scheme that rivaled casino sports books, authorities
said at a news conference announcing charges against Giordano and 26 other
defendants on Wednesday. Giordano, 52, was arrested early in the morning by
FBI agents who had to scale the walls of his fortress-like compound in Pine
Crest, Florida. “This is the largest illegal gambling operation we have ever
encountered,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “It rivals casinos for
the amount of betting.” Giordano and his accomplices allegedly laundered and
stashed away “untold millions of dollars” using shell corporations and bank
accounts in Central America, the Caribbean, Switzerland, Hong Kong and
elsewhere. Property seized since the bust includes four Manhattan
condominiums, millions of dollars in cash, tens of thousands of dollars
worth of Las Vegas casino chips and a football signed by the 1969 New York
Jets following their Super Bowl victory. Before his arrest Giordano was best
known for winning a Texas Hold ’em tournament at Las Vegas’ Bellagio casino
worth nearly US$100,000 earlier this year.