A locally-owned Tennessee sports betting company, Action 24/7, is suing state officials to try to overturn their suspension of the firm's sportsbook, a move taken just as the NCAA Men's Basketball was tipping off, due to suspected fraud and money laundering in accounts on the betting platform.

From the AP:

On Monday, Tennessee Action 24/7 filed the lawsuit against Tennessee Lottery officials for the suspension that came at the outset of the men's basketball NCAA Tournament, a huge sports betting event that continues for several weeks. The company is challenging the regulatory process used to suspend them and is calling into question the level of debit card fraud an investigator suspects occurred.

The company is one of six authorized so far to run sportsbooks under Tennessee's online-only sports betting law, which saw its first bets in November.

Danny DiRienzo, a sports betting investigator for the lottery, last week said the activity would have been stopped early on, with fewer victims and less money in losses, if the company had implemented the internal controls they spelled out in their application as a sportsbook operator.

DiRienzo said in one instance, a player made a $10 deposit almost immediately followed by 184 attempted deposits from seven cards with seven names, 124 of which were successful, with minimal bets placed and then multiple withdrawals out to an account with the player's name. He called it a clear case of what could be charged as credit card fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft or wire fraud.

"It is serious, serious criminal activity, probably in the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damages done with multiple real individuals and business victims," DiRienzo said during a Friday meeting of the lottery's board.

The lawsuit by Tennessee Action 24/7 says the lottery acted outside of its authority when its top officials suspended the license last Thursday, before the board voted on the move the following day. The company was on the phone during the meeting but the board "refused to hear their position," the lawsuit says. Discussions between the parties also unfolded via emails ahead of the meeting.
After being suspended last week, Action 24/7 took to Twitter to say that the decision for the suspension was based “upon unfounded fears of future speculative recurrences of the activity” and that it was a “draconian action.”

The post said:

"The Board today indefinitely suspended 24/7's sports betting operator license for suspicious player deposit activity. This suspicious activity was detected quickly by Action staff and Action swiftly suspended the involved player accounts. Action instituted additional controls to curb the activity, and no further such activity has occurred since. Yet, the Board relied upon unfounded fears of future speculative recurrences of the activity, and took draconian action just as the NCAA Tournament is beginning. Obviously, we are disappointed in the Board's decision, but we will continue to work with TEL staff and seek all other avenues of relief to have the suspension lifted quickly so that the people of Tennessee may continue to enjoy wagering on the Action 24/7 network."
Read more here: https://www.tennessean.com/story/mon...se/6973705002/