Another Atiyeh brother BUSTED

[<BW>]

BY RAJ VISHNU

Another Atiyeh brother has been busted by the U.S. government for
running a sportsbook.

This time it's George Atiyeh whom the Feds are after.

Federal authorities announced Thursday that Atiyeh, 42, of Allentown,
Pa., has been charged with conspiracy, illegal gambling, transmission of
wagering information, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money
laundering, in connection with the operation of International Casino, a
telephone sportsbook.

if convicted of all charges, including eight counts of money laundering,
Atiyeh would face a maximum penalty of 172 years in Federal prison and
more than four million dollars in fines.

For several years during the mid-1990s, Atiyeh owned and operated
International Casino, a telephone sports betting operation that claimed
to be located in the Caribbean, Federal authorities said.

According to the Federal authorities, Atiyeh solicited bettors in the
U.S. and tried to avoid the law by making it look like his gambling
business was conducted in foreign nations, out of reach of Federal law.

Atiyeh ran a marketing office in Allentown, advertised in publications
distributed in the U.S. and mailed out advertising from the Allentown
area that promoted his sports betting operation, Federal authorities
said.

Atiyeh also used a website on the Internet to promote the sports betting
operation, and collected $1,061,000 in wagers from November of 1995 to
January of 1997, Federal authorities said.

The betting involved wagering on college and professional basketball and
football, pro baseball, pro hockey, horse racing and auto racing, they
said.

An indictment against Atiyeh was unsealed Wednesday after being returned
by a grand jury on Dec. 12, Federal authorities said.

Atiyeh Wednesday in Federal Court in Philadelphia pled not guilty to all
charges and remains free after posting 10% of his $75,000 bail, Federal
authorities said.

According to the indictment, Atiyeh ran International Casino, which was
licensed in Antigua and Jamaica, from Allentown, Canada and Antigua, and
accepted bets via interstate and international telephone lines.

Atiyeh sent and received thousands of dollars to and from bettors via
money wires, the indictment states.

The indictment also details how undercover Federal agents in
Philadelphia posed as potential bettors and were instructed on how to
bet on sporting events through International Casino.

Atiyeh, who is divorced and known throughout him hometown as a surly
bully, of late sold sports apparel in Allentown.

He was a wrestler and football player at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., and
then briefly played in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and the
Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as in the now-defunct United States
Football League (USFL) with the now-forgettable Denver Gold.

Atiyeh's brothers, Dennis and Joe, were busted by Federal authorities in
November of 2000 and charged with running a sports betting operation
from Whitehall, Pa., an Allentown suburb.

Dennis and Joe got off when it came out during their trials in Federal
court in March of 2001 that their sports betting operation, English
Sports Betting or ESB, really did operate out of Jamaica as claimed.

Although marketing for ESB was done from an office in Whitehall,
prosecutors could not prove in court that any bets were ever taken from
that Whitehall office.

Dennis was acquitted by the jury in his trial and Joe had the charges
dismissed by the judge in his trial.

During that four-month period from the time of Dennis' and Joe's arrests
in the fall of 2000, until they got off in the spring of 2001, George
was secretly being groomed to take over ESB, in case Dennis, the ESB
owner, was covicted and went to jail.

But George's time spent in Jamaica learning the ESB ropes was for
naught, as Dennis won his case and George went back to his sports
apparel business, which recently went out of business.

For some reason, the Allentown, Pa., area has become a hotbed of
offshore or alleged offshore sports betting arrests.

Earlier this month, Keith Varga, of Bath, Pa., another Allentown suburb,
was busted by the Feds on bookmaking and money laundering charges in
connection with the operation of 21st Century Sports, a telephone
sportsbook that claimed to be located in Aruba but was not.

Another bookmaker, Mike Neimah, also of Allentown, has been investigated
by the Feds for running a telephone sports betting operation out of
Allentown while claiming to be in Trinidad, but no charges have yet been
filed in that case.

[Checkers]

Ken Hense to the rescue?

[Jeff]

Illegal gambling runs in family, cops charge


12/21/01

By RUDY MILLER
The Express-Times

ALLENTOWN - Nine months after a pair of city brothers were acquitted of money laundering and running an illegal gambling business, another sibling faces similar charges.


A 15-count indictment unsealed Wednesday says George Atiyeh, 42, of 1102 Fullerton Ave., ran a business called International Casino from November 1995 to January 1997 in Allentown and Canada. During that period, he took more than $1 million in bets, according to the indictment.


Atiyeh’s brothers, Dennis and Joseph, were acquitted in March of receiving $5 million in illegal bets and laundering it through other businesses.


Joseph Atiyeh earned a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics while wrestling for Syria, his native country. He also was a standout wrestler at Louisiana State University and Parkland High School. Dennis Atiyeh was as an All-American football player at the University of Pittsburgh after graduating from Dieruff High School.


The indictment against George Atiyeh was filed Dec. 12 at U.S. District Court in Philadelphia and unsealed Wednesday.


U.S. attorneys say George Atiyeh tried to make it appear as if his business was conducted abroad, but he actually took bets and solicited bettors through an office in Allentown. He advertised the business in sports publications throughout the United States and on the Internet, documents say.


Authorities said International Casino told its customers to wire funds for their bets to a person in Antigua. These funds were sent from Antigua to an account in Allentown. International Casino employees then would cash checks on that account and purchase money orders in Pennsylvania and mail them to bettors for payments, documents say.


Dennis Atiyeh said his brother is the subject of a federal "witch hunt."


"Every man is innocent until proven guilty," Dennis Atiyeh said. "Neither George nor any of us has ever been convicted of a crime and we intend to keep it that way."


"It’s ridiculous," said George Atiyeh’s attorney, David Bargeron. "I would think the government would have better things to do than this nonsense."


"We will let the indictment speak for itself," said Rich Manieri, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


If George Atiyeh is convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of 184 years in prison and $8 million in fines, plus the forfeiture of the $1 million he took in bets.


He is charged with conspiracy, two counts of running an illegal gambling business, five counts of transmission of wagering information, money laundering conspiracy, and seven counts of money laundering.


The case was investigated by the FBI with help from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mansfield.


The indictment against George Atiyeh comes two weeks after federal charges were filed against 40-year-old Keith Varga of Bath.


Varga is charged with running an illegal sports betting business in Allentown, Bethlehem and Nazareth that allegedly netted him $756,000.


Manieri said Varga testified against George Atiyeh in a recent deposition, but Manieri said he didn’t know the details of Varga’s testimony.

[Checkers]

so george goes down because varga ratted him out

didn't varga use to work for dennis before getting fired

looks like payback to me

[brink]

Does anyone actually still play at ESB? I played there several years ago and after all I've heard I feel luck that I got out in on piece.

[egg nog]

you kidding me? one brother probably ratted out the other one.

[<Cip>]

I attended the Univ of Pittsburgh in the early 80's
and recall Denny Atiyeh being a special-teamer on a team that was loaded with talent. He was a good football player, but not an All-American as is reported.