Key points

• The documents were found alongside cash and valuables linked to the Celuapuestas operation
• Investigators are analyzing the records to map the network's financial trail
   

Authorities in Buenos Aires have discovered property purchase agreements among documents seized from safety deposit boxes linked to an illegal online casino network.

The information provided investigators with potential evidence to trace how proceeds from the operation may have been laundered through real-estate transactions.

The boxes contained $2.5m in cash, ARS 10.2m ($7000), €5855, a 50-gram gold bar, jewelry and additional documentation, according to court filings now being analyzed by Federal Prosecutor Santiago Marquevich and Assistant Prosecutor Eduardo Suárez, under the supervision of Federal Judge Jorge Rodríguez as part of a case handled by the Federal Prosecutor's Office of Hurlingham.

The boxes were rented by suspected members of an organization that operated unlicensed online casinos across Greater Buenos Aires and Argentina's Atlantic coast.

The investigation began in May 2023, after an informant reported the existence of a structured network operating under the commercial name Celuapuestas, offering gambling through websites and social media channels outside state regulation and tax oversight.

Prosecutors say the platform collected proceeds from thousands of players, primarily through transfers to virtual accounts.

In October, federal forces carried out raids in the gated communities of Terralagos, El Rebenque and Santa Juana in Canning, detaining several suspects and seizing 60 vehicles, ARS120m and $20,000.

Investigators identified Roberto Zuco as a suspected leader of the organization. Judge Rodríguez stated that evidence indicates Zuco issued operational orders and coordinated both the gambling platform and the management of assets.

One of the safety deposit boxes was rented by Marta del Valle Santucho, who remains at large, with Zuco listed among the individuals authorized to access it.

During the same operation, Jorge Valdivia, identified as a member of the group, attempted to flee Terralagos with a suitcase containing cash but was intercepted at the community entrance after a National Gendarmerie drone captured the sequence. Valdivia was charged as an accomplice, placed under house arrest, and is subject to an asset embargo of up to ARS2bn

Investigators are now examining the property purchase agreements to determine who participated in the transactions, a step that could help reconstruct the financial trail behind the illegal gambling scheme.

Source

#Argentina #IllegalGambling #OnlineCasinos #FinancialCrime #RegulatoryEnforcement