Two Boca men charged in multi-million dollar gambling operation

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

FORT LAUDERDALE — Three suburban Boca Raton men played roles in a multi-million dollar South Florida sports betting ring with ties to a New York organized crime family, the Broward County Sheriff's Office announced this morning.

Dr. Michael Schwartz, 40, a suburban Boca Raton podiatrist, Samson Mandell, 33, a manager at a Boca Raton sports bar, and Eric Spinosa, 30, were arrested Thursday night on racketeering and money-laundering charges.

Broward sheriff's investigators said Schwartz' suburban Boca Raton office at 20929 Lyons Road was used as a money drop for the operation, which started at least eight years ago and functioned as a go-between for dozens of bettors and a Costa Rican gambling company, Chappy's Sports Gambling and Bookmaking, set up by the conspirators as part of the scheme.

Schwartz, who graduated from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, became licensed in Florida in 1995, according to state records, which also lists him as a doctor in good standing.

"I don't know why a man in his profession would do something like this," said Broward sheriff's Detective Sgt. Tony Lanza, whose organized crime squad spearheaded the three-year investigation.

Lanza's undercover detectives infiltrated the ring - whose members often gathered at a Coral Springs sports bar - placed high-level bets and took out loans.

"The business was doing several million dollars per year," Lanza said.

The Broward group operated with ties to a New York organized crime family, Lanza said, though he declined to name the family.

"Traditional organized crime still has a strong hold on organized sports betting," the sergeant said.

Lanza said the alleged kingpin of the operation was Norman Weissman, 79, of Tamarac, whose criminal history includes a handful arrests on bookmaking charges.

Eleven people were arrested in the case on Thursday, when authorities executed two search warrants in Broward County and seized a total of $278,000. Bail was set at more than $1 million each for Schwartz and Mandell, who were taken into custody in Palm Beach County.

Authorities said one more person wanted in the scheme, a bookie, was still on the run.

Friday, May 23, 2008
By MICHAEL LaFORGIA and ROCHELLE E.B. GILKEN
Palmbeachpost.com