Israeli online gambling ring busted

[The Buzz]

Police in Israel have arrested 34 suspects in a raid on an alleged illegal sports gambling ring.

Authorities say the operation took in about NIS 340 million in the last two and a half years.

From Haaretz.com:

They were accused of running a well-oiled gambling operation since May 2007. The suspects include the owners of the Internet sites, its technical support workers, those who built the sites and those who organized groups of gamblers. The vast majority of the customers are not Israelis, and the sites are directed at markets outside of Israel.

The raid operation, named "Risky Bet," was a combined effort of the police, the Israel Tax Authority, the State Prosecutor's Office and Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority. Its planning goes back to the beginning of 2008, when intelligence information pointed out the main suspect, Avi Shauli, 38, a resident of Or Yehuda. He ran the bet555.net gambling site, which changed its name in January 2009 to betbet.us.

[PokerNations]

Sounds like a job for The Hebrew Hammer!