Lee Raid Result Of Intense Investigation
Published: Saturday, September 02, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
LEE RAID WAS RESULT OF INTENSE INVESTIGATION AND STING OPERATION
Trash analysed, cars followed, banks and phone records inspected in major police action against poker star's activities
Over the weekend more news emerged on the police raid on poker personality Richard Lee's home in San Antonio last week (see previous Online-Casinos.com and InfoPowa reports) which indicated that the raid was the culmination of an intense police investigation that has been running since February this year.
Police applications for a search warrant showed that officers had rifled through trash, tailed luxury cars, gambled online and sorted through a string of local bank accounts and phone records in an effort to gather evidence against Lee and others.
Although no arrests have been made yet, a police spokesman earlier alleged that the home of the gambling star, who placed sixth last month while in the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, was the 'nerve centre' of an illegal online gambling operation.
Lee, otherwise known as "The Chinaman," is the "biggest bookie" in San Antonio, according to a "credible source" quoted in the affidavit requesting a search warrant to access the Lee home. The affidavit also names Lee as the brains behind an illegal Internet gambling operation run in part from his Shavano Park residence.
The suspected illegal Web site - Betbsbnow.com - (SITE DOWN NOW), claims to be based offshore, the affidavit said, while in fact it is a local operation that takes bets and collects and pays proceeds from illegal gambling and sportsbooking.
Lee in recent days has denied doing anything illegal and said he never has engaged in bookmaking. No one has been charged in the investigation, but Lee had help with his operation, the affidavit said, suggesting that Lee employed people to act as "runners."
Last week, using the warrant officers searched the homes of Lee, his son-in-law Larry Davenport, Matthew Winslow, and Daniel Ortiz. In the homes of Lee and Winslow, officers found so-called "players lists," which were not included in the affidavit.
Police also seized vehicles, cell phones, computer equipment, cameras, firearms and millions of dollars in assets from bank accounts.
The police told court officials that the investigation began after an anonymous source faxed a vice officer a copy of a card containing the URL of the Web site, two "wager lines," a customer service number, two local phone numbers and a local address. The business was a gambling operation, the source claimed, and it was local.
In February, the officer called the customer service number and set up an account with the Web site. He began to bet. Meanwhile, the officer subpoenaed a phone service provider and found that the local phone numbers on the card belonged to Lee, the document said.
The officer then stopped by the local address - a UPS store where people can rent mailboxes. Perusing mail covers, he found that Lee, Davenport, Winslow, Ortiz and Marco Hernandez, an employee of Lee, had received mail at the location, according to the affidavit.
Next, the officer uncovered multiple bank accounts belonging to Lee and found that he had received a large number of substantial cash deposits. He also found cheques from Lee with the words "Gamb Loss" or "G. Loss" written on the memo line, the affidavit said.
The officer then moved on to the bank accounts of Winslow, Davenport, Ortiz and Hernandez and concluded that numerous people either had written checks to or received checks from the men "for the obvious purpose of settling debts from illegal gambling/sports booking," the document said.
In April, the officer followed Davenport and Ortiz to a far North Side restaurant. Inside he watched the men consult "what appeared to be a ledger" while talking on cell phones.
Meanwhile, the officer posing as an online gambler had some bets to settle — he owed the online gambling company just under $500.
He called the customer service number on the card. An agent named "Cowboy" told the officer to send a money order to Costa Rica and requested the tracking number so he could retrieve the funds, the document said. The officer then received call logs for numbers connected to Lee. He found that "multiple phone numbers associated with Richard Lee had in fact called phone numbers associated" with the Web site.
Online, the site provides answers to frequently asked questions. One asks, "Is gambling on the Internet legal?"
The earnest reply: "Every region throughout the world has different laws, so we can't really answer that question."
