The operators of AirBit Club, and an attorney, have been charged with fraud and money laundering by authorities in New York. 

Following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), four of the five alleged figures behind AirBit Club were arrested and appeared in court yesterday. A fifth alleged operator was also arrested in Panama, where he is subject to extradition proceedings. 

The five suspects charged have been named as Pablo Renato Rodriguez, Gutenberg Dos Santos, Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, and Jackie Aguilar. 

Lavish presentations to fool ‘investors’

Launched in late 2015, Airbit Club presented itself as a typical multi-level marketing club for cryptocurrency, with organisers employing the usual bling-laden presentations to persuade ‘investors’ to part with their cash. 

Despite promising guaranteed daily returns from crypto mining and trading, and running an online portal that purported to show the profits amassing, in reality it was all a Ponzi scheme.

Indeed, according to the US Department of Justice indictment, those behind AirBit Club actually used victims’ money to buy luxury goods and real estate and, of course. 

Discussing the case HSI Special Agent-in-Charge, Peter C. Fitzhugh, said:

“Those arrested today have not only been charged with running a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering ring, but also for allegedly spending their victim’s money on luxury cars, jewelry, and homes. 

“These alleged fraudsters pulled out all the stops to sell their scheme to their victims with enticing recruitment events, then shamelessly used proceeds of their scheme to recruit additional victims through even more aggressive and lavish marketing pitches. 

“As today’s arrests show, HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force investigates financial crimes of every type, and will stop those who prey on unsuspecting investors who entrust their hard-earned savings to so-called financial advisors.  Those who violate this trust for their personal gain will face consequences for their actions.”

Alarm bells first started ringing as early as 2016, when club members discovered withdrawals weren’t as easy as promised. Apparently, in addition to delays and hidden fees, club members were instructed they must first recruit new members before they could get money out. 

At least $20 million USD in cash is thought to have been laundered through a plethora of trusts and bank accounts, and those running the club made extensive efforts to scrub the internet of any negative reviews and warnings about the scheme. 

High-profile sponsorships

AirBit Club even engaged in high-profile sponsorships in an attempt to make itself look legitimate. 

According to AirBit Club’s website, which is still live, the company is present in Formula 3, sponsoring driver Enzo Fittipaldi, has made a strategic alliance with the NASCAR brand and Telmex team, and sponsored the FIA-certified NACAM F4 Mexico championship. 

Entrepreneur, investor and author Robert Kiyosaki, is also featured on the AirBit Club site, as is author, motivational speaker (and fraudster) Jordan Belfort. 

It is even claimed that Brazilian star Ronaldinho appeared at an event that was sponsored by AirBit Club in December 2019, and he is pictured wearing a shirt featuring the company’s logo. 

💥 you got the power 💥 https://t.co/bMnGTGwDLK

— AirBit Club Official (@AirBitOfficial) March 13, 2019

AYO.NEWS says:

Slowly but surely those behind the scams that so badly tarnished the public’s perception of cryptocurrencies over the past five years or so are being brought to justice. 

In the case of AirBit Club, the most shocking aspect is the lengths the company went to in terms of sponsorship and celebrity endorsements to make itself look legitimate. 

Still, AirBit never reached the insane size of the OneCoin Ponzi scam, which was estimated to be worth in the region of $4 billion by the time its site was taken down at the end of 2019. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Australia is set to block more illegal offshore gambling websites.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will be requesting internet service providers (ISPs) to block a number of additional gambling websites, including Planet 7 Oz, Ace Pokies, Nordicasino, Reeltastic, Spintropolis, Enzo Casino, Times Square Casino, and Royal Spinz. 

ACMA began investigating the aforementioned sites after receiving complaints about the operators treating players poorly and withholding winnings. It concluded the sites were operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

In July ACMA ordered Australian ISPs to block 11 offshore gambling sites; Happy Hugo, Mucho Vegas Casino, Kahuna Casino, Rich Casino, Box 24 Casino, Bondi Bet, JokaRoom, Omni Slots, Fruits 4 Real, XPokies, and Slottica.  

ACMA says that more than 100 illegal gambling services have pulled out of the Australian market since it started enforcing new offshore gambling rules in 2017. 

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Sportradar has launched a new service to help protect professional athletes from social media abuse. 

The global sports betting and sports entertainment products and services provider says the new tool has been designed to protect the mental health and wellbeing of athletes, and will be available to all sports federations, leagues, and governing bodies.

Created by Sportradar’s Intelligence and Investigation Services team, the new service uses advanced technology to help identify those behind anonymous ‘troll’ or ‘burner’ accounts, used to abuse athletes on social media. 

The new solution will gather information, and allow Sportradar’s specialist team to share findings with partners, helping secure the removal of offending accounts, and where necessary, work with law enforcement to ensure legal action is taken. 

Commenting on the new tool Sportradar Integrity Services managing director, Andreas Krannich, said:

“Maintaining the integrity of sport and ensuring that it’s safe, fair and enjoyable for all, has long been our priority.

“Now, with this new service, we’ve strengthened our position in this space by safeguarding the athletes who compete in it and protecting them from online harm and social media abuse.”

Sportradar says the new service was successfully trialled this summer at the Exo-Tennis Series in Germany and the United States. It saw participating players from the ATP and WTA Tours, including Germany’s Dustin Brown and US pair Taylor Townsend and Sachia Vickery, sharing abusive messages they had received on social media. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Social media abuse is a growing issue for everyone, but it’s not hard to imagine how much of a problem it can be for professional athletes who are already under immense pressure to perform, so it’s great to see Sportradar employing its specialist tech and skills to help organisations combat this.

Staying with Sportradar, last month the company announced it had strengthened its partnership with Badminton Europe, with an eye to increasing the sport’s profile in key European and Asian markets, along with new and emerging markets. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

The Romanian gambling regulator has blacklisted 20 more igaming websites. 

Domains blacklisted include popular names like Megapari.com, Fivecasino.net, 22-bet.net, and 488365.com (which leads to Bet365). 

Upon receiving notification from the National Gambling Office (ONJN), Romanian Internet Service Providers, of which there are some 1,184, will have 15 days to block access to the sites. 

When the blocks are in place, visitors attempting to access the domains will see the following message: “Your access to this site has been restricted by the National Gambling Office.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Considering the wide choice of cheap but effective VPN services now available, this game of cat and mouse with ISP blocking is an incredible waste of time and resources, and highlights just how utterly out-of-touch regulators and lawmakers are with today’s realities. To protect the integrity of regulated markets, smarter solutions, like payment blocking, are far more effective. 

Staying with Romania, last week online slots and table games developer Spearhead Studios announced it had secured Romanian certification, while last month the country took its first steps to regulating digital currencies, crypto wallets, and crypto exchanges, fully adopting the EU’s 5AMLD. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

The UK’s largest trade union, UNISON, has announced a partnership with the Young Gamers & Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM). 

As part of a £10 million National Gambling Education Programme supported by members of the Betting & Gaming Council, the charity is providing free accredited workshops and resources to anyone who works with or cares for young people. 

Designed to build digital resilience, the workshops cover key information on gaming and gambling in the UK. The resources will provide UNISON members with the tools needed to safeguard young people from the potential risks of gambling and gaming-related harm, including lesson plans, activities, signs to look out for and information on where to go for advice and support. 

Research from the Children’s Commissioner shows 93% of children play video games and Gambling Commission research shows there 55,000 11-16 years olds classified as problem gamblers in England, Scotland and Wales.

Due to the COVID19 pandemic, YGAM has accelerated the digital transformation of their training so it can be delivered online. UNISON members can book onto the free session by visiting the YGAM website – https://www.ygam.org/book-a-workshop/.

Commenting on the partnership Head of Learning and Organising at UNISON, Teresa Donegan, said: 

“We are really pleased to have developed this relationship with YGAM, their training and resources are really excellent and will be an invaluable resource to our members to support them in their work with young people across public services whether it be in youth, community or social services or in the further or higher education sector.”

UNISON has over 1.3 million members and have initially organised for YGAM to run several national sessions and hope to follow this up with a host of regional training through the UNISON regional education teams across the country.

Operations Director at YGAM, Kev Clelland, added: 

“We are delighted to be working with UNISON. We are constantly listening to the needs of practitioners and young people and it is very clear from these conversations that the workers that UNISON represents need and appreciate our resources more than ever.  

“YGAM’s vision is for all young and vulnerable people to be safe from gaming and gambling related harms and this collaboration will help us reach thousands of young people to raise awareness of the potential risks of gambling and gaming related harm.”

YGAM recently launched a new leading-edge ‘Parent Hub’ website to provide resources and expert advice around gaming and gambling to support families to build up their children’s resilience and establish a healthy online/offline balance. 

The new website has received endorsements from parents, teachers, safeguarding officers and the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) who labelled the resources ‘vitally important’ for parents. www.parents.ygam.org 

AYO.NEWS says:

Here at AYO.NEWS we’ve always been very enthusiastic about education when it comes to addressing problem gambling. However, given the extremely political nature of UNISON, and it’s very particular ideological stance, there is the very real danger that this program will be hijacked to further the cause of the UK’s anti-gambling crusaders.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX is introducing ID checks for all customers from 28 August. 

The exchange, which is owned by 100x Group (formerly known as HDR Trading), has drawn criticism in the past for being too lax regarding compliance, having no customer ID or verification checks in place. 

But, as of 28 August, BitMEX will be launching a new user verification program, with all customers required to complete ID checks within six months.

The exchange has said that the new procedures should only take customers five minutes to complete, and as an incentive it will be running a trading tournament open only to verified customers.

BitMEX is currently facing a potentially huge lawsuit in California, accusing it of being “deliberately designed, from the ground up” to aid or abet in a “myriad of illegal activities.” Meanwhile, another lawsuit, in New York, accuses the exchange of being involved in selling unlicensed securities without broker-dealer licensing, and engaging in market manipulation of cryptocurrencies. 

AYO.NEWS says:

We’re sure some BitMEX customers won’t be too happy about this, but it was always going to happen, so they should have been expecting it. On the plus side, it should give many people more confidence in the exchange, and is sure to help BitMEX comply with the myriad of local crypto regulations around the world. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020