New Jersey charges 14 in connection with organized crime sports betting ring
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, with the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police, has announced that 14 people have been charged for their roles in a sports betting ring, which allegedly a suspected Mafia member ran.
The alleged foreman of the operation, Joseph M. “Little Joe” Perna, was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, gambling offenses, and money laundering, along with other family members, including his sons, stepson, and nephews. His wife and ex-wife also were charged with racketeering.
The investigation began in January 2024 by the Port Investigations Unit of the New Jersey State Police, which said people were encouraged to place bets with the proceeds used to operate the ring and enrich its members.
A nationwide web of sportsbooks was operated under Perna, the statement said, with other members, including student athletes, who managed sportsbooks for the enterprise.
“Today we are alleging that a member and associates of the Lucchese crime family were running a sophisticated sports betting operation,” Theresa L. Hilton, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, said in the statement. “They are also charged with money laundering and other crimes as part of their racketeering enterprise. We are committed to rooting out these illegal operations and protecting the public from becoming their victims.”
This comes as MLB and sportsbook operators have introduced nationwide US$200 betting limits on individual baseball pitches to reduce the risk of manipulation after the indictment of two Cleveland Guardians players.
Abi Bray brings strong researching skills to the forefront of all of her writing, whether it’s the newest slots, industry trends or the ever changing legislation across the U.S, Asia and Australia, she maintains a keen eye for detail and a passion for reporting.
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The Backstory
How a state probe landed in the middle of a shifting betting landscape
New Jersey’s racketeering case against an alleged Lucchese crime family foreman comes as regulators, leagues and law enforcement widen their focus from isolated violations to coordinated betting schemes. Authorities say the operation encouraged people to place wagers and funneled proceeds through a nationwide web of sportsbooks, including by enlisting student athletes as local managers. That allegation overlaps with a broader pattern emerging across U.S. sports: integrity threats are no longer confined to single bets or rogue actors but are linked to networks that capitalize on prop markets, player access and fast-moving money flows.
The timing underscores why the market’s safeguards are being stress-tested. Major League Baseball and sportsbook operators recently imposed nationwide $200 limits on individual pitch bets after the indictment of two Cleveland Guardians players, a precaution that illustrates the industry’s concern about micro-markets and manipulation risk. New Jersey’s case, with charges ranging from racketeering to money laundering, shows how traditional organized crime can still exploit the modern ecosystem despite legal betting, compliance monitoring and league investigations.
The stakes for operators and leagues are clear. Enforcement is converging with integrity controls to target not just bettors but the managers, marketers and launderers who keep illicit rings running. New Jersey’s complaint fits that pattern, and the consequences could ripple across recruiting, payment channels and the use of student intermediaries.
Federal scrutiny extends from NBA props to college programs
The federal investigation that ensnared Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for allegedly manipulating his performance has broadened into a suspected ring that placed large prop wagers and targeted college contests. According to reporting on the probe, sportsbook accounts tied to the network bet against several men’s programs, including Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T. Three North Carolina A&T players were later suspended for violating team rules, though a link to gambling has not been confirmed. The NCAA says it is working with monitors and regulators as suspicious activity flags arise. Read more on the expanding inquiry into a suspected NBA gambling ring that spilled into college basketball.
This widening federal lens raises two pressures that intersect with the New Jersey charges. First, prop markets that hinge on individual performance can be more vulnerable to manipulation, drawing both amateur and organized actors. Second, betting that touches college athletes heightens legal and reputational risks for schools, conferences and books that must demonstrate robust detection and escalation protocols. Law enforcement’s move up the value chain—from bettors to organizers—parallels the state’s allegation that a foreman coordinated multiple local books.
Cross-border operations show how fast illegal networks adapt
U.S. cases are not unfolding in isolation. Authorities in Southeast Asia have been dismantling large-scale online rings that mirror the cross-jurisdictional logistics, social media recruiting and crypto-based laundering patterns that also surface in American investigations. In Indonesia, police arrested 22 suspects in a China-Cambodia operation that allegedly generated as much as 20 billion rupiah in 10 months by blasting promotional messages and converting proceeds into cryptocurrency. The raids seized thousands of SIM cards and hundreds of devices, revealing a volume-driven marketing machine. Details of the raids are here: Indonesian authorities arrest 22 in China-Cambodia igaming ring operation.
Cambodian authorities, coordinating with South Korean police, broke up an illegal site that handled about 44 billion won in transactions, recruited more than 11,000 associates and ran games including Sports Toto and baccarat. Police made 10 arrests, seven detentions and charged 174 users without detention after months of cyber tracking. The campaign is part of a sustained crackdown scheduled to run through Oct. 31 and aimed at both organizers and habitual high-stakes gamblers. See the case summary: Illegal gambling ring dismantled in Cambodia.
Vietnam’s courts, meanwhile, handed down prison terms to 43 people tied to a ring that moved the equivalent of tens of billions of dollars in wagers and crypto flows through betting platforms and token exchanges. Authorities allege laundered proceeds went into real estate and luxury goods, and they opened a separate money laundering probe linked to the case. Read the verdict overview: Vietnam jails 43 people for running VND88,000 billion online gambling ring.
Together these cases map how operators exploit borders, e-wallets and social channels to scale quickly while obscuring funds. For U.S. regulators and sportsbooks, the lesson is that domestic enforcement must anticipate tactics refined abroad—mass messaging, burner accounts, crypto off-ramps—and close gaps before they migrate into regulated markets.
Corporate controls face their own test
Law enforcement attention is also turning to the corporate tier that surrounds betting operations, from governance to legacy exposures in gray markets. In the United Kingdom, former GVC Holdings leaders, including ex-CEO Kenny Alexander and former Chairman Lee Feldman, were charged in a probe tied to gambling services in Turkey between 2011 and 2018. The Crown Prosecution Service authorized prosecutions for conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to bribe and other offenses following an HM Revenue and Customs investigation. A first hearing is set for Oct. 6, 2025, in London. Coverage here: Former GVC boss Kenny Alexander among 11 charged in connection with fraud investigation.
While the U.K. case involves a different jurisdiction and era, it underscores rising expectations for oversight of third-party partners, payments and distribution in challenging markets. For U.S. operators, that translates into heightened diligence on counterparties, sharper escalation of suspicious patterns and stronger documentation to withstand regulatory and legal scrutiny. New Jersey’s action adds another reminder that compliance failures can intersect with criminal enterprises, even when activity touches legal wagering channels.
Why the New Jersey case is a bellwether
The alleged New Jersey ring overlaps with several fault lines: the use of student intermediaries, the spread of local books connected to national networks and laundering strategies that move funds beyond regulators’ sight. It arrives as leagues intervene to limit risk by reshaping betting menus and as federal and state agencies coordinate with integrity monitors on alerts. The result is a test of whether layered safeguards—KYC controls, transaction monitoring, prop bet limitations and data sharing—can deter organized groups that adapt quickly.
If prosecutors prove that student athletes helped manage books, universities and conferences could face renewed pressure to tighten education, surveillance and disciplinary frameworks. Sportsbooks will be measured by how fast they identify outlier betting patterns linked to those networks and escalate them to authorities. And for organized crime, a successful case would raise the cost of operating inside regulated markets, potentially pushing activity back into offshore and gray zones where law enforcement cooperation becomes crucial.
The through line across these developments is convergence. Domestic racketeering allegations, NBA-linked prop manipulation, Southeast Asian online networks and U.K. corporate probes all point to the same challenge: a betting economy where legal and illegal channels can blur at the edges. New Jersey’s charges sit at that intersection, and the outcome will influence how aggressively regulators, leagues and operators recalibrate the balance between access, integrity and enforcement.
