Many Americans have been attracted to fantasy sports gambling on the Internet over the recent years. A website, however, was found to have been illegally operating by Washington authorities.
David B. Watkins was arrested Thursday after police raided his home in Spokane, Washington. Officials believe that Watkins operates FantasyThunder.com and that half of the site’s revenue from gamblers goes to him.
According to the police, Watkins would make the gamblers bet on a team of NASCAR drivers. He allegedly then pocketed half of the money the gamblers spent, while the other half goes to winners. Suspicions arose when some of the gamblers who won complained about not being paid.
According to Steve Schwartz, a gaming analyst, fantasy sports leagues should have all of the money collected put into the prize pool so that the operation can run legally. Therefore, Watkins pocketing half of the money earned from bets makes operation illegal.
Investigation is still ongoing and the police have reason to believe that the site has been operating since the last ten years. Fantasy sports gambling has seldom been investigated by law enforcement, let alone arrested.
If convicted, Watkins will face up to five years of imprisonment. The Washington police has already charged him with professional gambling. Gamblers were notified that the site had run out of cash and that was the reason why they were not paid.
