Stroccos wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 2:56 pm
Cheech wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 2:17 pm
The whole guy who cant pay gets sent to a loanshark is overblown. Does it happen? Sure. More than likely, no. @gohn
probably strictly a NYC thing at this point if it does happen ,
I thought it was well-established that gambling and loansharking went hand-in-hand?
Here's a Philly example from underboss Mannone's sentencing last year.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/underbos ... ansharking
The wiretap evidence established that Mazzone financed high-interest loans to customers of the sportsbook who were unable to pay their debts, resulting in the collection of loans with interest rates as high as 264%. LCN members and associates made threatened debtors who did not pay with violence, including one threat to make a victim “disappear” for nonpayment on a loan.
And another one from Philly mobster Nick Caramandi, who speaks about it as if it's common practice rather than unique to his operation.
https://jerseymanmagazine.com/piece_of_the_action/
“There’s nothing better than shark money,” former mobster Nick Caramandi told me when I was interviewing him for a book about his life.
The Crow, as Caramandi was known, went on to explain the dynamics.
“Gamblers, serious gamblers, are degenerates,” he said. “They have to bet. Now a guy gets in debt to us. Let’s say he owes $10,000. He’s gotta pay that money or we don’t let him bet no more.”
So Caramandi would send the gambler to a loan shark—who was affiliated with the mob. The gambler would be loaned $10,000 which he used to pay off his gambling debt to The Crow. He would then be able to continue gambling.
In fact, it seems to be common practice up in Canada too.
https://www.yorkregion.com/news/crime/d ... effb7.html
“I felt like s—t,” he said. “But it got worse. The bookie introduced me to loan sharks, and within a year I owed $180,000 to a couple of different ones.”
He borrowed from loan sharks to pay bookies and bar owners, always believing he could make the money back somehow.
Soon, loan sharks were charging him 10 per cent interest per month — the going rate on the street known as “juice” — which began at $5,000 but eventually sailed up to $20,000. That interest adds up to 120 per cent a year.
What is clear is that Vaughan is witnessing unprecedented violence that at least one expert links to illegal gambling.
Antonio Nicaso, author and professor, says the ‘Ndrangheta, an organized crime group centred in Italy, has been buying up bars in Vaughan for this purpose.
He says 50 illegal gambling locations in Vaughan is a conservative estimate and their patrons are losing thousands and paying interest charges of up to 200 per cent per year.
“In Vaughan, this is a major issue. People are losing the shirts off their backs because of this kind of addiction,” he said. “It can be viewed as a victimless crime because the victim is willingly engaging. It’s an epidemic, and not only in Vaughan. It’s the new business for criminals.”
I'm not sure why it would be worth letting people bet on credit if there's not going to be at least some vig built-in when they miss payments?
