Canadian gift card sports betting investigation leads to two arrests

Two men have been charged after Ontario authorities investigated suspicious betting activity and gift card fraud.

Two men have been charged by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Investigation and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) in connection with suspicious Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) PROLINE sports betting activity. The investigation was sparked when thousands of gift cards were compromised across various gas bar locations in Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

Further investigation from the IEB revealed fraud amounting to CAS $400,000 ($290,000 USD), where gift cards were used to pay for PROLINE bets. The two men allegedly would bet on both teams to guarantee a win.

“The OLG purchases and wagers were made at the gas bars using the fraudulently obtained gift cards,” OPP Corporate Communications Bureau spokesperson Gosia Puzio said in an email seen by CTV News. “The gas bars and their employees were unaware the gift cards were fraudulent.

“The betting pattern was consistent with money laundering, where individuals place large wagers on both sides of a sporting event to ensure minimal gain or loss. Further investigation confirmed that the wagers and purchases at gas bar locations were made using fraudulently obtained gift cards.”

From gift card to fraud

This style of operation has been seen by law enforcement officials before. However, the OPP has said that the investigation is still ongoing, keeping some details like how the gift cards were obtained, private as the authorities’ examination continues.

36-year-old Joshua Silver of Thunder Bay has been charged with fraud over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, conspiracy, identity theft, forgery, utter forged document, and possession of property obtained by crime. He has been remanded into custody and appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice on September 22.

He was arrested alongside 45-year-old Montgomery McMahon, also of Thunder Bay and similarly charged with fraud over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, conspiracy, utter forged document, and possession of property obtained by crime. He will face court on September 23.

Featured image: Pexels

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