Despite legal sports betting being featured in more than 30 states, and across the world, that doesn’t mean that illegal activity is going to be stopping in the near future. We’ve seen illegal rings continue to grow, but one guy is paying the price. That’s because the news has dropped of a Vegas man busted for illegal sports betting scheme and it’s making plenty of headlines.
According to a report, Matthew J. Turnipseede had reached out to investors and collected more than $8 million from the group in this Ponzi scheme. In total, 72 people were defrauded and this happened over a six-year period. With Turnipseede collecting money and not having to worry about things, he was living the high life stealing money from all of his clients.
Per that same report, Turnipseede told his investors that he had come up with a special algorithm that would help ‘double’ their money. Instead, people who invested never saw any kind of a return and Turnipseede indeed raked in millions. Once investigators started working on things, though, it became clear that Turnipseede was breaking the law.
He has paid the price and he’s facing some serious consequences now that he’s been busted. Turnipseede has been charged with 12 counts of wire fraud, and he has also been charged with one count of mail fraud. Yeah, that’s not good. As part of the allegations against him, Turnipseede is being accused of using the money for personal use, including lavish vacations with his family members.
While the news of Turnipseede is eye-opening, it’s important to remember that more illegal activity continues to rise across the USA. As things stand, sports betting has been approved in more than 30 states. However, around 20 are still battling things to get going with legal wagers. With this, people are running illegal rings around the year.
This has become a growing problem in places like Florida and California. Texas has also seen a spike in things, especially with things being up in the air about their futures with sports betting. With California, the expectation is that things will be voted in this November, as two initiatives have already been locked in to be placed on the ballot.
With this, things are going to be changing soon enough for Californians. However, with the MLB season in full swing and the NFL preseason here, illegal betting isn’t slowing down. Things are only going to keep going up in California in that regard once the World Series betting odds are finalized after both the ALCS and NLCS, respectively. You know people can’t wait.
With the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the new MLB betting favorites over the New York Yankees, which has been surprising. More and more people are betting on the Dodgers to win it all. While people in Cali can’t place legal bets on that to happen, they’re using under-the-table bookies to get that done. It’s rough to see, but change indeed is on the way.
As we inch closer to the NFL regular season, don’t forget that the Buffalo Bills remain the Super Bowl favorites in Vegas and that won’t change leading up to Week 1. With Buffalo, Josh Allen is also in the running to win NFL MVP this year, as he’s got strong Las Vegas betting odds to get that job done. Matter of fact, people are checking out sportsbooks left and right, including the reliable Bovada review, to place some bets legally.
Legally is the key word there. This is something that’s being regulated, and numbers are being recorded. For illegal bets, there’s no way for the government to track things, which isn’t good at all. That’s why the kind of Ponzi scheme that was being run, with more than 70 people involved, is so frustrating to see. People are being taken advantage of left and right.
This shouldn’t be the case, and this kind of activity needs to end as soon as possible. For Turnipseede, he’s surely going to learn his lesson in a big way, as he’s facing serious jail time and a monster fine. Remember, he collected more than $8 million, which is no small chunk of change. The people he took advantage of being furious with him too.
Only time will tell how this story ends, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if more Ponzi schemes are shut down shortly. Investigators are aware of things going on, not only in Las Vegas, but throughout the USA too. With the NFL season almost here, you can expect the investigations to pick up soon. This likely isn’t the last scheme we’ll be learning about in the near future. Keep your eyes open, folks.
