ARRESTS IN MURDER OF SPORTSBOOK EMPLOYEE

31 August 2007

Two Canadians arrested for shooting of Platinum sportsbook employee, say investigators


The English language Costa Rican newspaper AM Costa Rica has confirmed rumours and Spanish press reports that two Canadians and a Costa Rican are being held on suspicion of being involved in the year old murder of a sportsbook employee, 27-year-old Luis Muñoz Vargas.

The motive for the murder was that the dead man had somehow cheated the suspects, who are apparently sportsbook operators, out of some $25 000, said investigators.

Detained Thursday was Francisco Palermo, 40, in Escazú and Alli Mohammed, 38, in La Uruca. A bodyguard, identified as Carlos Flores Altamirano, 27, was detained at his home in Cuarto Reinas de Tibás, where two 9mm firearms were recovered by the Judicial Investigating Organisation.

Agents allege that the two Canadians along with the Costa Rican bodyguard set up a meeting with the victim a year ago on the pretext of purchasing a car. When Vargas arrived for the meeting in Desamparados centro, he was greeted with bullets and died later in hospital.

According to AM Costa Rica the two Canadians are believed to be operators of an Internet sports betting book, Platinum, in Plaza Heredia. They also are believed to have an interest in a night club in Jacó.

Mohammed is understood to be an Iranian naturalised as a Canadian citizen. The immigration status of the two Canadians could not be determined immediately.

The victim was an employee at the sportsbook, according to investigators. The shooting took place last September 7. The nature of the alleged scam was not revealed by investigators but it was believed to have been conducted via the Internet.

Investigators have no evidence that Muñoz actually participated in a scam that defrauded his employers, but agents said that the sportsbook's owners believed that he was guilty of doing so.

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