Bill Cosby was an avid sports bettor who squandered a huge selection of 1000s of dollars betting on the Miami Dolphins in the eighties, in accordance with Chris Colombo, a mafia scion and son that is youngest of previous Mob boss Joseph Colombo.
Bill Cosby lost $400,000 wagering on the Miami Dolphins in the mid-eightes, at the height of their Cosby Show fame, according to Chris Colombo. The wagers were put by Cosby’s ‘fixer’ Frank Scotti, he alleges.
We agree totally that it isn’t really the most allegation that is heinous at the once-beloved comedian recently, and we additionally concede Colombo, whom spent per year in prison for running a multi-million-dollar unlawful bookmaking operation, may not be the most trustworthy source in town.
Still, if anybody would learn about illegal bookmaking in New York within the eighties, it may be him. Colombo insists that, at the height of his Cosby Show popularity, ‘Dr Huxtable’ had been regularly betting $5,000 a game.
He also lost a $20,000 bet on the 1985 Super Bowl XIX, when the San Francisco 49ers thrashed the Dolphins 38-16, claims Colombo.
Cosby’s ‘Fixer’
The Mafia man claims that while he would not personally handle the bets (because that would have been illegal!), he ‘had knowledge’ of them and estimates Cosby lost around $400,000 over several years.
As Cosby might say, zip-zop-zoobity-bop!
Colombo, reminiscing to celebrity gossip website Page Six this week, claimed that the man who really placed the bets was NBC worker Frank Scotti, who became Cosby’s individual assistant. Scotti would deliver bets to the bookies in the shape of bags of money, in accordance with Colombo, while winnings were came back in the same fashion.
Just before he passed away in 2015, aged 90, Scotti admitted to the press that he was in fact Cosby’s ‘fixer,’ during The Cosby Show years, funelling thousands of dollars to females to supply the comedian’s ‘virtual harem.’
‘we felt like a pimp, we felt dirty,’ said Scotti, whom thought we would open up to the Today Show on Monday after 18 women accused his boss that is former of behavior, including alleged drugging and rape.
Scotti made no mention of gambling in these interviews, although it would not are particularly relevant to the conversation.
Kinky Pasta Parties
Colombo claims he met Cosby through Sammy Davis Jr into the eighties and was invited to several dinner parties in the star’s dressing room where they ate Italian food and drank $1,000 wine bottles.
‘Bill liked their fine Italian food. When I was sent by him in a helicopter to select up a $1,000 container of red wine,’ Cosby’s previous assistant Christopher Gambale told Page Six. ‘The dinner events were constantly filled with six-foot blond ladies. When we’d get a call that Cosby’s wife was on her means to the studio, I would bring the women in my own office.’
On June 17, the assault that is sexual against Cosby in Pennsylvania was declared a mistrial after jurors became hopelessly deadlocked. Prosecutors are seeking a retrial on the charges that are same.
Stanley Ho, ‘King of Gambling,’ Stepping Down as Shun Tak Chairman, Retaining Title at SJM Holdings
At 95-years-old, billionaire Stanley Ho is finally ready to think about retirement.
There has been an internal battle among the Hos over the ongoing future of Stanley Ho’s video gaming empire. Seen here sitting in 2010 with son Lawrence directly behind him, the Macau tycoon announced this that daughter Pansy, second from right, will be taking over his Shun Tak Holdings company week. (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
The Macau casino magnate, that has been called the ‘King of Gambling,’ announced this that he was resigning as chairman of Shun Tak Holdings week. Ho founded the Hong Kong conglomerate in 1972, and is handing over the reins to their daughter, 54-year-old Pansy Ho.
Created in Hong Kong in 1921, Ho is credited with changing Macau into the gambling epicenter that its today.
Ho held a monopoly on gambling in the city for roughly 40 years through their company SJM Holdings. But after Macau’s transfer of sovereignty from Portugal to China in 1999, the town decided to allow competition from international casino operators in 2002.
Today, through his numerous companies, the flamboyant businessman is predicted to employ about one-fourth of the entire workforce in Macau. He is also employed four females to serve as his ‘wives,’ in which he’s fathered 17 kids.
Though he’s legitimately divorced three, he continues to refer to their exes as their wives. Polygamy remained legal in Hong Kong until 1971.
Resignation Eases Fears
Today’s announcement planet 7 oz aus that Ho is walking away from Shun Tak had been welcomed news to investors who’ve been weary on the holding company’s future. Speculation over Ho’s health has been circulating ever since a stroke was suffered by him in ’09. After the health scare, he began allocating their money to their wives and children.
Pansy Ho is a billionaire in her right that is own who offered as managing manager of both Shun Tak and SJM for quite some time. Known as a skilled and educated businesswoman, shareholders evidently like her using over for her dad, as Shun Tak stock was up 2.4 percent during trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange monday.
Shun Tak began as being a shipping operation, but today has a diverse profile that includes transportation, commercial and real estate development, hospitality, and gaming opportunities. It holds a considerable stake in SJM.
Stanley Ho will undertake the ceremonial title of ‘chairman emeritus’ at Shun Tak, but will remain in his leadership ability at SJM Holdings.
Children Continue Legacy
A chinese mafia syndicate though nothing has ever been proven, government agencies in the United States have linked Stanley Ho to the Kung Lok Triad. Which includes caused plenty of controversy for MGM Resorts, which has allowed Pansy to obtain nearly five percent of its entire company within the years.
The Nevada Gaming Commission has ruled that Pansy is a suitable investor for MGM Resorts, but in New Jersey, hawaii’s Gaming Control Board has barred her from running a gaming company as a result of ‘extensive ties’ to organized crime through her dad.
Irrespective, Pansy is to date the golden youngster of Stanley’s offspring. His 5th youngster, and oldest with their second spouse, Pansy’s estimated net worth is a lot more than $6 billion.
Her youngest brother Lawrence is also no slouch with regards to making his inheritance work with him. The Melco Resorts founder is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in gambling, and is likely to be a contender that is leading obtain one of Japan’s two integrated resort licenses.
Cyprus to See Melco International, Hard Rock, Back Largest European Casino
Cyprus might seem a unlikely spot for the project being touted as the ‘largest casino in Europe.’ in the end, surrounded by countries like Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, and Turkey, and located southeast of Greece, the Mediterranean island is inside of both strong religious and political forces that, at minimum in their more extreme elements, don’t always embrace gambling as an element of their core values.
The Euro Casino in Southern Cyprus, that is expected to open in 2020, may soon tower over other luxury properties across the border in the north, such as the Merit (pictured here). (Image: sunshine.co.uk)
Be that it happen, and it will be the first on Cyprus as it may, casino developers Melco International and Hard Rock have joined forces to make. Already a major EU tourist destination for its balmy climate, the island nation has got the additional advantage of having a healthy per-capita income population, meaning locals likely won’t be locked out as is occurring in so many parts of asia with new casinos.
Focus on the merely named ‘Euro Casino’ is likely to start fleetingly regarding the $550 million project, which are going to be found in the resort town of Limassol. Cyprus’ Energy, Commerce, Industry, and Tourism Minister, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, stated the building project and finished casino will create around 4,000 new jobs and will attract near to 300,000 extra tourists to the island each year.
‘Our goal is the improvement of incoming tourism, increasing arrivals, and normal spending per capita, and to see this contribute to the ongoing efforts to handle the problem of seasonality in the Cypriot tourism industry,’ stated Lakkotrrypis. ‘Our other strategic objective was the creation of brand new jobs and extra tax revenue, supporting sectors that will be connected using the casino, and attracting further foreign investment.’
Fifteen-Year Monopoly
Euro Casino will boast 136 gaming tables and 1,200 slots, by having a luxury that is 500-room and a theme park. That may perhaps not be big by American or Asian standards, but in Europe, where casinos are smaller by law, it’s a monster.
The republic passed legislation casino that is legalizing in 2015, developing a license for the single main casino resort, in addition to four smaller satellite tasks and slots parlors.
The license will run for a period of 30 years and allow the consortium to operate being a monopoly for the first 15 of those. It also authorizes one satellite casino in the capital that is divided of Nicosia (half in Greece, half Turkey), in addition to one slots parlor in all of the districts of Larnaca, Paphos, and Famagusta.
Casinos Without Borders
The consortium has said it will start a short-term casino in Limassol later this 12 months, as the Euro Casino resort is still under construction. If the short-term video gaming house prove effective, the business will then start to roll the network out of smaller establishments. Euro Casino is scheduled for completion by 2020.
While these could be the Greek Cyprus’ first casinos, they’re not the area’s first. After the Turkish invasion regarding the north in 1974, Cyprus was divided ethnically and politically into Turkish and Greek areas, separated by a UN buffer zone.
Turkish Cyprus in the north has dozen that is several and video gaming establishments, which means Greek Cypriots must cross the edge if they need to gamble. Having previously restricted cross-border movement, North and South consented to start the edges if the Southern joined the EU in 2003.
Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture Pushing Its Global Profile in Race for a Casino
How will you get attention that is front-of-mind you are a David in an ocean of Goliaths, all vying for one of Japan’s precious casino jobs? A fair amount of creativity is going into how best to beat out more obvious and better-funded rivals, such as Tokyo or Osaka for Wakayama, a district on the Kii Peninsula of Japan’s Honshu Island.
Casino resorts should help develop rural areas, maybe not major cities like Tokyo, says Wakayama Prefecture Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka. (Image: Wakayama Prefecture)
Besides a replica Japanese castle and numerous Shinto shrines, Wakayama’s claim to fame lies mostly in its prolific good fresh fruit manufacturing.
Wakayama has set an objective to cultivate its export of fruits from ¥430 million ($3.84 million) in 2015, to over $53 million by 2026. The prefecture houses a bountiful fresh fruit crop that includes peaches, persimmons, and plums.
The latter are employed for the production of plum wine, an adult that is popular in the summertime months throughout many components of Asia.
But Can It Compete?
Despite rumors that only the country’s biggest urban centers are being looked at for the built-in casino resort project (IR), Wakayama says it is not folding on its efforts.
The prefecture is hyping its 150-acre Marina City since the perfect location for a casino. The island that is artificial home to a fish and fruits market, hot springs, fishing piers, hotel complex, and ‘Porto Europa,’ which includes a full-scale reproduction of roads in France, Italy, and Spain.
Marina City is less than an hour’s commute via high-speed train solution from Kansai airport.
Regardless of casinos, Wakayama can also be asking the national government to help fund marketing programs to raise the profile of smaller prefectures.
Two first of all
The country’s parliament, known as the National Diet, happens to be determining how many IR licenses to issue, but the basic assumption is that just two casino locations is approved to start. Large, densely populated urban metropolises are the odds-on favorites to win the coveted permits, but that’sn’t stopping Wakayama from continuing its petition.
Prefecture Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka thinks Japan’s IR bill should help grow smaller cities in lesser-known areas. Japan is divided in to 47 divisions that are administrative the equivalent to a province or state.
Now, the man that is betting not put cash on Wakayama receiving one of Japan’s initial two casinos. But should the resorts launch in a smooth manner, future gambling expansion might follow to more rural destinations.
Though the Diet isn’t talking publicly about the gambling bill’s developments, it’s generally thought that smaller, rural areas are no longer being considered. ‘Where did the view that this ended up being for local revitalization get?’ Nisaka asked month that is last.
Challenges Are Many
The principal issuing hurting Wakayama’s odds of hosting a casino resort is that the Diet is expected to charge a expensive entrance charge for locals that could be the maximum amount of as $100 per visit. The admission cost is observed as a safeguard to reduce the likelihood of problem gambling among Japanese citizens.
This means the resorts will have to rely on international visitors, and even though Japan is trying to make the national country a tourism destination, for given that will primarily depend on business travelers who like to gamble. Tokyo is by far the largest hub that is financial home to such mega-corporations as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan, Hitachi, and Sony, and that has to weigh heavily in its benefit in this arena.
Wakayama, having said that, has seen its population decrease in the last few years, and is now the prefecture that is least-populated the Kansai region.
Malta Allegedly Failing to Aid Italian Prosecution of Online Gambling Site Reportedly Linked to Mafia
Malta is allegedly dragging its feet in answering letters from Italian authorities who are searching for judicial assistance. Italy is probing a previous gambling website that was previously certified by the island country that is small.
Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri is pleading with Malta to offer home elevators an internet gambling company that was as soon as licensed by the European jurisdiction. (Image: la Repubblica)
Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri revealed recently that Malta hasn’t replied to ‘letters of request,’ essentially an official ask from an international court to supply legal assist with another authority that is legal.
Gratteri is investigating whether CenturionBet Ltd, which operated the online gambling Bet1128 casino brand name, is tied to the mafia in Italy. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) suspended the company’s gaming permit previously this month.
Gratteri believes Bet1128′s online casino, sportsbook, and poker room was marketed towards residents in Calabria and largely owned by the ‘Ndrangheta, a powerful crime that is organized based in southwest Italy. CenturionBet owner Francesco Martiradonna has, in accordance with investigators in Italy, offered evidence to link the mafia unit towards the online gambling network.
‘If Malta chooses not to ever collaborate with Italy, or replies six months or a year after I conclude my investigation, it are worthless,’ Gratteri stated. ‘It is only a choice of not attempting to respond.’
Malta’s Alleged Regulatory Failure
Malta has changed into a popular gaming that is remote jurisdiction over the years because of the nation’s low tax rate. Its addition in the European Union permits licensees to work through the 28-country union.
Numerous iGaming that is major are authorized through Malta including Rational Group, parent to PokerStars, bwin.party, Betfair, and Net Entertainment.
But in present months, it’s emerged that Malta’s video gaming regulator may be failing in its duty to monitor operations of this internet casino companies it’s licensed. Former MGA employee Valery Atanasov told Reuters earlier this present year that the agency’s relaxed attitude to supervision created ‘conditions that allow suspicious financial operations, money laundering, and other criminal practices.’
The MGA is accountable for reviewing applicants and ensuring against money laundering and other activity that is suspicious. Atanasov stated licensees that are numerous unexamined for years, a claim MGA Executive Chairman Joseph Cuschieri disputes.
‘ The MGA has other mechanisms in place to supervise tax money and compliance laundering,’ Cuschieri defended.
No Evidence, Yet
Francesco Guarascio, an investigative journalist who wrote the Reuters special, states he had beenn’t given any concrete evidence that clearly shows any online gaming entity engaged in unlawful misconduct. But he and Atanasov aren’t the ones that are only of MGA operations.
Gratteri made comments this week hinting that he too is weary associated with regulatory agency.
‘There is something it doesn’t add up on the level that is legislative at the amount of controls,’ the Italian prosecutor opined. ‘ We truly need to look further to the matter, not only at a judicial level but also at administrative and governmental levels.’
Malta Attorney General Peter Grech states the country isn’t hiding anything, and that police are looking in to the matter. ‘I cannot discuss the merits or the particulars however it is not correct to suggest that Malta is refusing to answer.’