The discovery of seven lockers rented by the accused members of an organization dedicated to the operation of fraudulent online casinos and the laundering of profits from illegal gambling allowed not only the kidnapping of $2,511,953, $10,236,000, 5,855 euros, a 50-gram gold bar and jewelry, but also the seizure of documents, including House purchase tickets that could make it possible to reconstruct the path of money.
This was reported by qualified judicial sources. days ago, THE NATION had recognized it that a locker rented by Marta del Valle Santucho, a fugitive in the case, had been discovered and that there were two people authorized to use it. One of them was Roberto Zuco, the alleged head of an organization operating in the suburbs and on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires.
It was suspected that the chest contained money, mobile devices and documents in order to get ahead A raid was carried out on the gang and US$2,511,953, US$10,236,000, EUR5,855, a 50 gram gold bar and jewelry were seized.
“The purpose of the action is to confiscate cash, documents, mobile devices, storage devices and all other property elements of the organization under investigation that may be of interest to the investigation. In addition, in order to obtain from the said company all the movements that it has registered from its opening to the day of income and expenditure of persons, the following information must be provided: dates, entry and exit times and the individualization of the person, together with the rest of the information that appears there,” said Federal Prosecutor Santiago Marquevich. in a statement requesting a raid on a company specializing in the rental of lockers in the town of Canning, in the Ezeiza district of Buenos Aires.
Zuco and other suspects were arrested in mid-October during trials in three Canning countries: Terralagos, El Rebenque and Santa Juana, where the National Gendarmerie seized 60 vehicles worth $120,000,000 and $20,000.
Eventually, not only the locker Del Valle Santucho rented was opened, but also six others. In the search application, public prosecutor Marquevich asked the company to provide information about whether other alleged members of the gang were customers of the company. It was thus established that there were six other chests linked to the suspects who are under judicial surveillance.
In addition to the money, gold bars and jewelry, employees of the Buenos Aires squadron of the National Gendarmerie, with the support of the elite Alacrán group and investigators from the Economic and Financial Crimes Investigation Department of the aforementioned federal security forces, seized documents relevant to the case, they said. Legal sources for LA NACION.
“Among the seized documents, we discovered real estate purchase and sale certificates. Now we are in the process of analysis to find out who among all the suspects was involved in the operations,” a source in the case explained.
As LA NACION reported at the time, The case began in May 2023 with data from an informant who “reported the existence of a structured network, operating under the trade name Celuapuestas, that offered gambling through websites and social networks outside of any official regulation,” the sources consulted added.
The investigation was delegated to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Hurlingham, led by Prosecutor Marquevich and Deputy Prosecutor Eduardo Suárez. The Federal Judge of Morón Jorge Rodríguez intervenes.
“First of all, it should be noted that the prosecution’s in-depth investigation shows that this (case) is an emblematic case of organized economic crime, showing how technology, unbanked cash and the use of front men can be effectively combined to conceal the illegal origin of money from an illegal online betting system. In this case, the prosecution recognized that the defendants set up and operated a secret, Internet-accessible gambling platform that worked “The income generated by thousands of bettors was collected through deposits predominantly through transfers to virtual accounts (CVU),” said Judge Rodríguez as he remanded Zuco and other suspects in custody.
On the day of the raids in Terralagos, a suspected member of the gang, identified by judicial sources as Jorge Valdivia, loaded a suitcase containing $12,000,000 into a 4×4 truck. and tried to leave, but was intercepted by the state guard after a drone used by the National Gendarmerie during the operation filmed the sequence while flying over the city complex.
“The accused leader of the organization was arrested in the country of Terralagos, where, at the request of the Prosecutor, Judge Rodríguez authorized the use of a drone with cameras to monitor the raids, useful to be able to arrest another defendant in the same private area when he was observed loading a suitcase, which later turned out to contain almost 12,000,000 US dollars, into a 4×4 truck used by the members was followed and intercepted at the station.” the federal troops when he tried to leave,” the Attorney General’s Office news site said at the time.
The filing states that the above-mentioned bets (which can be roulette, slot machines and card games) were accessed by invitation via “applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram, social networks such as Instagram, Facebook or internet advertising”.
In Mar del Plata
During his investigation, Valdivia claimed that the money he had in his suitcase had been won a few days earlier at the Central Casino in Mar del Plata during a trip with friends, including Zuco.
Valdivia, 48, was prosecuted because he was considered a necessary participant in the maneuvers under investigation. He benefited from house arrest and his assets were embargoed until the sum of $2,000 million was covered.as stated in the order signed by the judge.
The investigation also involved the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Economic Crime and Asset Laundering (Procelac), led by Attorney General Diego Velasco, and the General Directorate of Asset Recovery and Asset Confiscation (Dgradb) of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, led by María del Carmen Chena.
The resolution prosecuting the members of the gang arrested in mid-October, which bears the signature of Judge Rodríguez and the Criminal Secretary Ignacio Calvi, states that the suspects’ actions occurred in an organized manner “with established roles” and that Zuco was one of the main leaders or organizers of this criminal enterprise and “who gave orders to the members of the gang and mainly organized the activities related to the maneuvers of the previous crime.” At the online casino, he was also one of those who decide on the management of the assets used by the organization.
About The Author
