Police Assist in Online Gambling Scheme

The investigation of two New South Wales police officers is underway for suspicion of the use of ID documents purchased to protect the identities of professional online gamblers. Senior Constable Marc James Smith, of the Tactical Operations Unit, and Detective Senior Constable Anthony Paul Williams, of the Homicide Squad are the focus of the investigation. "The scheme involved establishing and using accounts with a number of different internet gambling agencies," according to counsel assisting the commission Peter Hamill. "Some professional gamblers are so successful that the gambling agencies elect not to take their bets. "The evidence gathered to date suggests that Williams and Smith were associated with at least two such lucky and professional gamblers." Darren Azzopardi and Stephen Fletcher were identified as the gamblers. "The gambling agencies were tricked into accepting the bets from people they would otherwise refuse to accept bets from," Hamill said.