bwin Betting

Detroit businessmen Mitchell Karam and Ghazi “Gary” Manni, have recently stirred up some major drama in the world of sports betting. In May of 2009, these two men were accused of a point-shaving scheme with ties to the University of Toledo basketball team, among other illegal schemes. In May, these allegations didn’t come as a shock to federal investigators, who had been watching the men for years.

These men had become close with both basketball players and football players at Toledo University. Through these friendships, they convinced the players to “fix games” by purposely missing shots and scoring opportunities. The men would bet on the team to lose knowing that they had players out on the court or field controlling the game on their behalf. Point-shaving is not new and, as these men found out, not hard to spot when it’s happening.

The FBI had been on the trail of Karam and Manni since early 2004. They had phone lines tapped and the whole nine yards. It is estimated that these two men bet more than $400,000 dollars against the Toledo basketball team in less than a year’s time. Thinking they were smart, Karam and Manni played into their own scheme by placing bets on both sides of the game (the bets were usually of different amounts).

The rumor is that bookies and backers that were acquaintances of Karam and Manni have come out and said that these two were not the smartest or most sophisticated when it came to point shaving. They would attempt to recruit players to fix the games before they even formed a real trusting relationship with the player. It seemed the scheme was bound to be blown wide open any day.

The federal court has found some humor in this case, which also supports the claims made by the acquaintances of the two men. It was revealed in court that Karam and Manni had attempted to fix a Toledo football game in 2005. Karam and Manni had backed a Toledo loss, counting on their players to purposely alter their performance, with big money. The result of the game was a blowout— but Toledo ended up WINNING. Court documents show that the two men lost a large amount of money. Prosecutors say that this was done only to protect them, if they were ever busted.

Regardless of the prosecutor claims, the general public has made these men a laughing stock in the betting world. Many have attempted betting schemes like this and it is a fact that almost all get caught.

The news of this case is still popular in the media because the two men, Mitchell Karam and Ghazi “Gary” Manni, were just charged with the 20 counts of sport bribery and conspiracy. There hasn’t been much talk about the sentencing, but there is a court date for sentencing to take place in early October, 2009. Along with these two business men, over seventeen players have also been indicted on similar charges in connection with the Toledo University point-shaving scandal.