Even though the majority of people rely on law, police and generally speaking, some form of protection, frequently, even these things do not represent any guarantee. All participants in the gambling industry must be protected in every possible way and it seems like betrayal once that trust is broken.
Illegal Actions Coming From The Police Department:
Police is surely one of our safety nets, but these days, at least in New York, one member of the PD took advantage of that. What did he do? Allegedly, he used his status, along with experience and knowledge he picked up on the streets to form his own illegal gambling and prostitution ring.
Namely, these organizations brought him a staggering $2 million each year as well as various customers all over Queens, Long Island and Brooklyn. His name is Ludwig Paz and along with his wife, he was finally caught for his criminal acts!
What Did He Say?
One of rarely positive things about this entire case is the fact that this 51-year-old retired cop pleaded guilty to attempted enterprise corruption and advertising prostitution. On the other hand, his partner in crime, his wife, also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted enterprise corruption after first refusing a plea deal that would have caused a tougher sentence.
Paz will be sentenced in approximately one month and it looks like he will be sentenced from four to twelve years in prison. His wife is going to spend one year in prison, which is a far better sentence in comparison to the four-year sentence that she would have received if she had taken the plea deal.
Not The Only One:
Although people may think that his wife and him are the only participants in this scenario, unfortunately, that’s not quite the case. In fact, seven police officers from the NYPD have also been caught in this scandal.
Three of them are former sergeants, while two of them are former detectives. How did this entire scenario work? Namely, these guys would give information to Paz and, in return, they would ask for $500. This information was in correlation with any raid that was about to occur on any location he owned.
One of the vice cops, former detective, Rene Samaniego, was also accused of supplying him with a description of undercover police officers to help him run his business without any issues. Samanieo confessed everything and now, he is looking at up to six years in prison.
Furthermore, other cops like, Giancarlo Raspanti, would do similar things but for different favors. They would often ask for certain discounts at the brothels. Former sergeant, Louis Failla was providing Paz with information he received from the department’s database while he was on duty.
Just yesterday we wrote about efforts of Malta Gaming Authority to fight against illegal activities which certainly gives hope that there are still people and institutions who care about the law and citizens.
Source: “Former NY Cop Faces 12 Years For Running Gambling Ring” https://calvinayre.com/2019/05/24/business/former-ny-cop-faces-12-years-for-running-gambling-ring/. Calvin Ayre. May 24, 2019.
