The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) continued its cease-and-desist frenzy on Friday, this time giving the Costa Rican gambling company Ace23 14 days to halt operations in the Wolverine State.
The MGCB sent letters to Ace23, which operates the website Ace23.ag, and its parent company, Ace Per Head. According to a press release, an “extensive investigation” by the MGCB and its law enforcement partners found that Ace23.ag is a site that enables “‘agents/bookies” to establish bookmaking operations using different web pages where they can accept wagers and make payouts to online casino and sports betting clients.
In essence, Ace23 acts as a sort of online clearinghouse for independent bookies. Ace23 doesn’t directly handle wagers or make payouts, leaving such transactions to the bookies and gamblers on its site. Instead, according to the release, Ace23 handles all organizing, setup and administration for bookies' operations and charges them $10 per active player per week.
While the Ac23 website says it is licensed in Canada and Costa Rica, it is not licensed in Michigan, which goes a long way toward explaining why the MGCB has determined that Ace23 is operating in direct violation of Michigan’s Lawful Internet Gaming Act, the Michigan Penal Code and the Michigan Gaming Control and Revenue Act.
Sub-Unit Beefs Up Busts
The Ace23 news comes a day after the MGCB announced that it had issued a similar warning to an Israeli company, Papaya Gaming, which offers Michiganders the opportunity to gamble on mobile games despite not being licensed in the state.
With a unique sub-unit dedicated to the task, the MGCB has long been the most active state regulator when it comes to cracking down on gambling schemes it considers to be illegal, and 2024 has been no exception.
In the first half of the year, it issued cease-and-desist letters to several sweepstakes casino operators, including VGW, as well as a leading offshore sportsbook operator in Bovada. And last month, an MGCB investigation led to a sports bettor in suburban Detroit being charged with eight felonies for “exploiting a system vulnerability” in Caesars Sportsbook to essentially steal $521,000.
In that case, Jeffrey Saco allegedly made more than $2 million in fictitious deposits into his Caesars Sportsbook account. He placed nearly 10,000 bets within 16 days, wagering more than $88 million. He then transferred more than $521,000 into his personal bank account before halting activity on Caesars' platform.
