Canadian Police Conducts Raid in Ottawa

Nov 10, 2012
Canadian Police Conducts Raid in Ottawa
A raid was conducted this week by the Canadian police, led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), as a follow-up on a two-year investigation into an illegal online gambling operation. The bi-annual Project Amethyst conducted in the Ottawa region has so far resulted in the arrest of twenty-one people in total, all reportedly involved in the operation which organized betting mostly on sports events such the NHL, NFL matches and the Olympics. “It's a very lucrative operation that yielded a hefty profit. The fact that it's illegal brings a whole new set of problems to people who owe money to individuals,” explained RCMP Supt. Sylvain Berthiaume, adding that this week's action was carried out by multiple police forces, including the RCMP, OPP and the Ottawa Police, and saw another six suspects arrested. The accused persons face a collective 54 charges, which involve those for producing marijuana, gaming, extortion, bookmaking and organized crime offences. The twenty-one persons arrested in Project Amethyst are: Benedetto Manasseri (49) of Ottawa; Stephen Parrish (45) of Ottawa; Gary Saikaley (49) of Ottawa; Eric Russel (54) of Thorne, Que.; Daniel Landreville (37) Aylmer; William Hamel (47) of Gatineau; Christopher Oliver (27) of Ottawa; David Ross (46) of Ottawa; Kyle Michael Gourgon (28) of Ottawa; Patrick Moulton (31) of Ottawa; Ramzi Sayah (38) of Ottawa; Ajay Bhandari (32) of Ottawa; Robin Golby (37) of Ottawa; Daniel Ranieri (28) of Bolton, Ont.; Jules Alter (59) of Ottawa; Michael Delorme (27) currently incarcerated; Lucien St-Jean (64) of Plantagenet, Ont.; Simon Leclair, (70) of Orléans; Alain Normand (50) of Plantagenet; Guylaine Duval (49) of Plantagenet; and Domenico Arecchi (47) of Ottawa.
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