Italian Online Gambling Boss Sentenced

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Mar 3, 2017

Three-year judicial process concludes with heavy jail sentence for Nicola Femia

Nicola 'Rocco' Femia, an Italian entrepreneur allegedly linked to organised crime, has been found guilty in a Bologna court and sentenced to almost 27 years in jail following a three-year judicial process arising from his involvement in illegal online gambling operations in the Emilia-Romagna region.
The original tax and judicial police action resulted in the arrest of almost thirty individuals – including several police officials – back in 2013 after an expose was published by regional newspaper Gazzetta di Modena.
Charges filed included the operation of 1,500 'rigged' land slots in Italy, and lucrative online gambling offered illegally on the premises to Italian punters via websites like 888Suite.com operating from Romania and the UK.
Femia's UK-based partner, Massimiliano Rizzo, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to organise fraudulent online gambling, and members of Femia's immediate family (his son Nicola Rocco and his daughter, Guendalina) were convicted of operating an online gambling enterprise valued at the equivalent of $65 million, allegedly linked to the Ndrangheta mafia.
The son was handed a 15 year prison sentence, and the daughter almost 11 years in jail.
Femia was also sued successfully for almost $53,000 by an investigative journalist at Gazzetta di Modena whom he had threatened with violence.

Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa

Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.


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