Drexel Teke alumni make a bet

[hoosier]

11/9/2002

FBI begins probe of pick six, could entail other races, other people


The New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation became involved in the Breeders Cup Ultra Pick Six investigation on Thursday afternoon, and FBI offices in Chicago and Baltimore are also working on the case, one that could widen to entail other races and other individuals, said FBI Special Agent Joe Valiquette.

"We’re always attentive that the investigation may grow and cast a wider net than is indicated right now," Valiquette said.

Valiquette said Saturday that the individuals being investigated about the pick six wager and two other incidents could be facing charges of conspiracy and wire fraud if they altered tickets after races had been run.

The investigation of the Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick Six and two other incidents involving multiple race wagers was passed on from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board to the United States Attorney General Office’s Southern District of New York Friday. The Southern District encompasses Manhattan and Westchester, Rockland, Sullivan, Orange, Ulster, and Putnam Counties.

The investigation centers on 29-year-old Derrick Davis of Baltimore, who stands to collect more than $3-million if his $12 winning ticket on the Ultra Pick Six, the only winning ticket, is deemed valid. He has the equivalent of six winning $2 tickets, each worth $428,932, as well as 108 of the 186 winning pick five consolation tickets, each worth $4,606.20.

Also being investigated are 29-year-olds Chris Harn and Glen DaSilva, who were Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity brothers of Davis when they attended Drexel University in Philadelphia in the mid-1990s.

Harn was fired by Autotote, the company that processed Davis’s winning bet via a telephone account with Catskill Off-Track Betting Corp., on October 31.

DaSilva, who lives in New York, is being investigated regarding his winning tickets on an October 3 pick four at Balmoral Park, a harness track in Crete, Illinois, and an October 6 consolation pick six at Belmont Park in which he had eight tickets. He, too had a phone account with Catskill OTB.—Bill Heller