Minnesota Police Bust Illegal TikTok Gambling Scheme
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Blake Carl Fitzgerald faces prison after running an illegal gambling scheme. The 40-year-old allegedly used livestreaming services to wager remotely on behalf of other people.
The Minnesota man ran his illegal scheme on TikTok and Discord, Bring Me the News, a local news outlet, claims. According to a criminal complaint, Fitzgerald ran the scheme between October and December 2022.
Fitzgerald allegedly received $65,103 through CashApp and Venmo from his customers. He proceeded to use the money to play slot games at Lake Casino & Resort and Treasure Island Casino, livestreaming his performance on TikTok. According to the complaint, Fitzgerald would call out a subscriber’s name during the stream, asking them to say which machine they’d like him to play.
As agreed with his subscribers, Fitzgerald would keep more than half of the winnings and would send his subscribers the rest. If he ran out of time to play, he would return his subscribers’ money.
Fitzgerald took a subscription fee of $5.99 from his followers. He kept in touch with them via a Discord server.
Minnesota, meanwhile, continues to fight for the legalization of sports betting.
Fitzgerald’s scheme eventually fell apart when the Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division received an anonymous complaint. After that, the regulatory body launched an investigation and identified Fitzgerald. The authorities also learned that the man had an accomplice who helped him run the scheme.
However, the name of the suspect has not been revealed as of yet since they are yet to be formally charged. In the meantime, Fitzgerald is being charged with three counts of running an illegal gambling operation.
As a result, the mastermind behind the illegal TikTok gambling scheme risks prison time of up to three years, as well as thousands of dollars in fines, Bring Me the News concluded.
In other news, the police in California continue their war on illegal casinos. In July, local authorities cracked down on an illegal casino, arresting three people and seizing a number of gambling machines and guns.
The arrestees in that case currently face charges over their illegal possession of guns.
Iowa athletes, meanwhile, face charges over illegal participation in betting. A total of eight people, including active players, former players and a student assistant, were found guilty of using third-party accounts to wager.
Elsewhere, match-fixing allegations led to the arrests of 17 people. These arrests took place in Spain after a thorough investigation.
