Operation Shore Bet is busted in Monmouth County
By Kelly Velocci, Packet Media Group
A Hillsborough man was charged Tuesday with being a ringleader in a million-dollar-a-week gambling ring centered in Monmouth County.
Richard Crossman, 55, of Hillsborough, and Anthony Gagliardi, 38, of Monmouth Beach, were said to lead an operation that included money laundering and the promotion of gambling, according to Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.
The 18-mouth investigation culminated with the arrest of 23 people who are said to be involved with the gambling enterprise, which authorities described as “well organized.”
Authorities said they seized dozens of vehicles and more than $500,000 in cash. All financial accounts associated have been frozen, according to the release.
Deemed “Operation Shore Bet,” the gambling enterprise stretched from Monmouth County into Somerset, Hudson and Essex counties and New York state.
Mr. Crossman is being held at Monmouth County Correctional Institution on a $200,000,000 cash-only bail. A bail source hearing has been requested, according to authorities.
He is charged with two counts of conspiracy, including racketeering, promoting gambling, third-degree possession of gambling records and financial facilitation of criminal activity.
Authorities discovered the enterprise also included the sale and distribution of marijuana and prescription drugs as well as a conspiracy to sell Oxycodone and Vicodin.
The gambling ring is said to have grossed more than one million dollars per week and used websites to track illegal wagering and record profits and losses, authorities said.
Investigators issued nine search warrants between June 18 and 24.
Members of the ring are said to have used several financial institutions in Monmouth County and “other methods to conceal the source and nature of the proceeds of their criminal activity,” Mr. Gramiccioni said.
Some members of the gambling ring also sold “controlled dangerous substances” to an undercover detective from the Monmouth prosecutor’s office, it is alleged.

