Florida Sports Betting Consultant Indicted
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted a Florida sports betting consultant on fraud, racketeering, extortion and gun charges after he allegedly threatened a customer into giving him more than $25 million.
According to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Milwaukee, Real Money Sports is run by 42-year-old Adam Meyer, who advises customers on which professional and college teams to bet on, selling his picks for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One customer, identified in the indictment as Victim A, began purchasing picks in 2007. In August 2008, Meyer told the customer he needed to transfer $1.2 million from his account in Wisconsin to Florida to cover gambling losses. Police in Florida seized that money and the customer reduced his gambling activity with Meyer.
Meyer then told the customer that they were both in danger, saying a bookie he owed was threatening him and believed both Meyer and the customer were partners and equally responsible for the debt.
Meyer also told the customer a person named Kent Wong was trying to collect the debt. Wong was actually Meyer's alter ego; Meyer called the customer frequently between 2009 and 2011, posing as Wong to obtain payments toward the debt and threatening the customer's family if he didn't pay. Victim A transferred millions of dollars to Meyer that he used for his own purposes, according to the indictment.
The customer stopped paying in early 2012. Meyer and an unidentified associate flew from Florida to Fond du Lac to meet the customer that April, the associate brandishing a gun and demanding the customer send Meyer more money. The customer sent Meyer another $9.8 million, the indictment said.
In all, Meyer and his agents obtained more than $25 million from the customer between January 2009 and February 2012, according to the indictment.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney James Santelle in Milwaukee said he couldn't elaborate on the case.
Defense attorney Joel Hirschhorn said Meyer will plead not guilty. A message left with a receptionist for Real Money Sports wasn't immediately returned.
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