A London man charged with crimes relating to bookmaking and organized crime turned himself in to police on Thursday.
Hiesam Kadri, who is the uncle of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri, made his first court appearance before being released on bail.
Hiesam is charged with committing a criminal offence for the benefit of a criminal organization and conspiracy to commit the indictable offence of engaging in bookmaking.
He is just one of more than 20 people arrested in connection with an alleged illegal sports gambling ring.
The investigation involved 10 police forces including London, the OPP and RCMP and wiretaps and recording devices in homes and cars.
The first round of arrests happened on Superbowl Sunday - when police raided a Markham, Ont. banquet hall and allegedly found people making illegal bets through Platinum Sportsbook.
Ten different locations were also raided in Toronto and London.
In court Thursday, Crown Attorney Henry Poon alleged “After the initial take-down, [Hiesam] was recruited by various members to sort of take over some of the operations, take over some of the books in terms of collecting some of the gambling debts.”
The court heard that Hiesam owns Dolphin Auto Sales on York Street, down the street from the Beef Baron strip bar.
The Baron is associated with Robert Barletta, the one-time president of London's Hell's Angels, who was also arrested in connection with the case.
These are just allegations and nothing has been proven.
Hiesam returns to court in May and there are still two outstanding warrants, including one for Londoner Jeffrey Fuchs.
