Kukla's Korner Hockey
Rochester gambling ring leader reaches plea bargain, pays w/ check from Thomas Vanek’s Isles salary
by George Malik on 10/31/14 at 01:11 AM ET
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From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's Mark Craig, as a follow-up to Craig's Tweets about Thomas Vanek possibly being involved with the gambling ring ran out of a restaurant he was an investor in:
A bookmaker pleaded guilty Thursday to laundering a $230,000 gambling debt — a payment his attorney said was made with a New York Islanders check.
That payment — apparently a salary check that was endorsed and handed over to cover wagers — was made at the same time hockey superstar Thomas Vanek played for the Islanders, said local attorney James Wolford.
Wolford declined to say whether the payment came from Vanek, who has been linked to the alleged Rochester-based gambling ring. Vanek has acknowledged testifying before a grand jury and sources say his name turned up in records seized from the alleged bookmakers.
Still, Wolford said he was surprised that Vanek's agent said in an interview that Vanek was not involved in any wrongdoing.
And it gets worse from there:
Wolford said after the plea that the $230,000 was a small portion of the overall debt owed by the gambler who paid with an Islanders check. The total of the debt was more than $1 million, he said.
Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: minnesota+wild,
new+york+islanders,
thomas+vanek
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