For everyone out there that is aware of this scam shop (English Sports Betting); here's a new one. Just now I received a priority package in the mail containging 4 $2 telephone cards AND a t-shirt that has their logo, ads, betting options, phone numbers, web address, etc. all over it. I'm sorry, but this is priceless so I had to share.
English SCAM Betting at it again. It's not really gambling though when there is 0 chance of getting paid. It's more of a donation to Dennis and his scumbag brothers. These guys should be put away if the DOJ would ever do it right.
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Federal racketeering indictments were handed down Wednesday against a Whitehall Township man and his brother who allegedly ran an international sports betting operation in the Lehigh Valley.
Dennis Atiyeh, 37, and his brother, Joseph Atiyeh of Baton Rouge, La., are accused of funneling sports bets through a circuit with outlets in Whitehall, Louisiana and Jamaica.
"A lot of it's football pools," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy. "We're talking heavy Sunday afternoon betting."
Dennis Atiyeh was charged with laundering money and operating an illegal gambling business at Sports Marketing & Sales, 881 Third St., Whitehall. Joseph Atiyeh, 43, was charged with money laundering.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury on Nov. 9, alleges the operation handled $5.4 million in sports bets in Whitehall, Louisiana and Jamaica in 1995 and 1996. It also charges parlay cards, or betting sheets, were sent to customers by fax and millions of dollars in proceeds were forwarded to a bank account in Jamaica.
The sports betting operation allegedly netted up to $2,000 a day.
After surrendering to federal authorities, the Atiyehs pleaded not guilty at a bail hearing Wednesday afternoon before Chief Magistrate Judge James R. Melinson in Philadelphia.
Dennis Atiyeh was released after paying 10 percent of $150,000 bail. Joseph Atiyeh, whose bail was set at $50,000, was released on his own recognizance. No trial date was set.
If convicted of one count of illegal gambling, one count of conspiracy to launder money and 14 counts of money laundering, Dennis Atiyeh would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of $7.75 million. Joseph Atiyeh, charged with one count of conspiracy and four counts of money laundering, could face life imprisonment and a $2.5 million fine.
"The charges are totally false," declared Dennis Atiyeh, former manager of the Acorn Hotel in Allentown and a standout wrestler and football player at the University of Pittsburgh. "I stand ready to defend myself."
Joseph Atiyeh, who won a silver medal in wrestling for Syria in the 1984 Olympics, could not be reached for comment. It was the first Olympic medal in Syria's history. Joseph Atiyeh, his brother said, is in the real estate business in Louisiana.
Dennis Atiyeh has hired a high-profile gaming industry attorney, Kenneth Hense of New Jersey, and is confident of being acquitted. In Wednesday's proceedings, the Atiyehs were represented by attorneys Thomas Bergstrom and William Brennan, both Philadelphia lawyers.
Interviewed by phone as he crept through heavy traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia, Dennis Atiyeh leveled a blow at federal authorities for unsealing the indictments the day before the first anniversary of his mother's death. Jamilie Atiyeh, 69, died last Thanksgiving at the home of her daughter, the Rev. Afaf Atiyeh Darcy in Allentown.
"They knew it, too," Atiyeh said. "This is the kind of people you are dealing with. They have no heart."
Dennis Atiyeh operates Atiyeh Publishing Co. in Whitehall. It publishes Las Vegas Sporting News, Sports and Gaming World and Action magazine, a gaming lifestyle publication.
State police Capt. Theodore Kohuth, commander of Troop M in Bethlehem, said the investigation was initiated by troopers assigned to the Bethlehem barracks.
Undercover agents opened sports betting accounts at Sports Marketing & Sales, he said.
"Most of it was done over the phone," Kohuth said.
With the cooperation of the Internal Revenue Service, Kohuth said, investigators established a pattern of criminal conduct that violated Pennsylvania law. Recognizing their findings would go beyond state law, state police referred the case to federal authorities.
The indictment alleges Dennis Atiyeh operated a sports betting business from Sports Marketing & Sales and English Sports Betting in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
English Sports Betting received about $891,000 through Sports Connection, a sports apparel business in Emmaus, and $4.5 million through Worldwide Financial Processors in Baton Rouge, the indictment alleges.
More laundering charges involve transfers of money between businesses in Whitehall, Louisiana and a Jamaican company, English Sports Information Processors Ltd.
Dennis Atiyeh, 37, and his brother, Joseph Atiyeh of Baton Rouge, La., are accused of funneling sports bets through a circuit with outlets in Whitehall, Louisiana and Jamaica.
"A lot of it's football pools," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy. "We're talking heavy Sunday afternoon betting."
Dennis Atiyeh was charged with laundering money and operating an illegal gambling business at Sports Marketing & Sales, 881 Third St., Whitehall. Joseph Atiyeh, 43, was charged with money laundering.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury on Nov. 9, alleges the operation handled $5.4 million in sports bets in Whitehall, Louisiana and Jamaica in 1995 and 1996. It also charges parlay cards, or betting sheets, were sent to customers by fax and millions of dollars in proceeds were forwarded to a bank account in Jamaica.
The sports betting operation allegedly netted up to $2,000 a day.
After surrendering to federal authorities, the Atiyehs pleaded not guilty at a bail hearing Wednesday afternoon before Chief Magistrate Judge James R. Melinson in Philadelphia.
Dennis Atiyeh was released after paying 10 percent of $150,000 bail. Joseph Atiyeh, whose bail was set at $50,000, was released on his own recognizance. No trial date was set.
If convicted of one count of illegal gambling, one count of conspiracy to launder money and 14 counts of money laundering, Dennis Atiyeh would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of $7.75 million. Joseph Atiyeh, charged with one count of conspiracy and four counts of money laundering, could face life imprisonment and a $2.5 million fine.
"The charges are totally false," declared Dennis Atiyeh, former manager of the Acorn Hotel in Allentown and a standout wrestler and football player at the University of Pittsburgh. "I stand ready to defend myself."
Joseph Atiyeh, who won a silver medal in wrestling for Syria in the 1984 Olympics, could not be reached for comment. It was the first Olympic medal in Syria's history. Joseph Atiyeh, his brother said, is in the real estate business in Louisiana.
Dennis Atiyeh has hired a high-profile gaming industry attorney, Kenneth Hense of New Jersey, and is confident of being acquitted. In Wednesday's proceedings, the Atiyehs were represented by attorneys Thomas Bergstrom and William Brennan, both Philadelphia lawyers.
Interviewed by phone as he crept through heavy traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia, Dennis Atiyeh leveled a blow at federal authorities for unsealing the indictments the day before the first anniversary of his mother's death. Jamilie Atiyeh, 69, died last Thanksgiving at the home of her daughter, the Rev. Afaf Atiyeh Darcy in Allentown.
"They knew it, too," Atiyeh said. "This is the kind of people you are dealing with. They have no heart."
Dennis Atiyeh operates Atiyeh Publishing Co. in Whitehall. It publishes Las Vegas Sporting News, Sports and Gaming World and Action magazine, a gaming lifestyle publication.
State police Capt. Theodore Kohuth, commander of Troop M in Bethlehem, said the investigation was initiated by troopers assigned to the Bethlehem barracks.
Undercover agents opened sports betting accounts at Sports Marketing & Sales, he said.
"Most of it was done over the phone," Kohuth said.
With the cooperation of the Internal Revenue Service, Kohuth said, investigators established a pattern of criminal conduct that violated Pennsylvania law. Recognizing their findings would go beyond state law, state police referred the case to federal authorities.
The indictment alleges Dennis Atiyeh operated a sports betting business from Sports Marketing & Sales and English Sports Betting in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
English Sports Betting received about $891,000 through Sports Connection, a sports apparel business in Emmaus, and $4.5 million through Worldwide Financial Processors in Baton Rouge, the indictment alleges.
More laundering charges involve transfers of money between businesses in Whitehall, Louisiana and a Jamaican company, English Sports Information Processors Ltd.
LOL Johnny I've been by his house plenty. It's not exactly off the beaten path up there (actually very close to the Lehigh Valley Mall).
Dennis is actually one fkup that outdoes you John. I'll give him credit for that...he's managed to get out of a lot of black & white $hit that most people wouldn't have been able to take. It doesn't make him a model citizen though.
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Dennis is actually one fkup that outdoes you John. I'll give him credit for that...he's managed to get out of a lot of black & white $hit that most people wouldn't have been able to take. It doesn't make him a model citizen though.
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