Tony Chau ran sportsbettingchamp.com and sold a betting system through the site. He also marketed off-shore sports books located in Costa Rica and Panama, taking a percentage of each referred bettor’s losses. On May 6th he pleaded guilty to conducting an illegal gambling business in Las Vegas, money laundering, and making a false statement on a tax return. U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware is scheduled to sentence Chau on August 5th.
In the plea agreement, Chau, a resident of Las Vegas since 2008, admits that he took proceeds from the offshore sports books and wired it to a bank account, “with the intent to promote the carrying on of the illegal gambling business and to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the proceeds.”
He didn’t claim some $1.5 million in affiliate income on tax returns between 2008 and 2011, resulting in the failure to pay $567,571 in taxes. In addition to this money the government wants him to forfeit cash and property in the amount of $1.4 million.
Chau is free on his own recognizance pending sentencing.