Gold bars, Miami Heat ring seized as feds raid renowned sports gambler in Florida
Federal agents raided the home of a internationally known sports gambler in Plantation, seizing almost $4.3 million in cash, 61 gold bars, five luxury cars and a Miami Heat championship ring, according to federal court documents.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case of Clarence “Gary” Austin, the former husband of Costa Rican supermodel Lynda Diaz.
According to documents filed in federal court, “Austin’s illegal Internet gambling enterprise has produced in excess of $34 million in illegal proceeds during its operation.”
In fact, they argue, all of his money comes from illegal activity: “Austin has no legitimate income except a monthly Social Security check he receives.”
Austin’s attorney, Howard Schumacher, said Wednesday that it is “too early to say at this point” if charges are imminent and it is premature to comment about the case, which is being pursued in Texas federal court.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not respond to a call or email for comment. The federal prosecutor on the case did not respond for comment.
Prosecutors allege Austin is the owner and operator of the Costa Rica-based sportsbook wagering website Tradewinds, which they say Austin has operated illegally on the internet since 1998.
“The investigation disclosed that Austin has established an intricate domestic and international money laundering organization and methods to surreptitiously conduct monetary transactions with the bookmakers and bettors located in the U.S. in order to ultimately receive and utilize the illicit earnings,” an investigator wrote.
They allege he “set up numerous domestic and offshore corporations, business entities, and trusts” to store the money.
The raid on his house on Sweet Bay Avenue in the upscale gated neighborhood of Hawk’s Landing in April took away two Mercedes’, a Lamborghini, a Porsche Cayenne and a Land Rover Range Rover. Authorities also seized millions of dollars in multiple bank accounts and life insurance policies.
The documents do not explain where Austin obtained a Miami Heat ring or who it once belonged to.
Prosecutors say Austin also owns a condo in Hollywood and a home in Weston.
A 1980 “Sports Illustrated” story profiled him as a well-known, full-time sports bettor in Las Vegas since the 1970s who at the time was wagering $30 million a year on football, baseball, basketball and hockey and keeping copious logs. Sports betting, Austin told the magazine, was a “full-time job, and you have to work very, very hard at it.”
The night before the interview with Sports Illustrated, he came out ahead on two baseball plays: a $24,500 bet on the Phillies earned him $17,000 and a $15,000 wager on San Diego had him come out $17,000 ahead. Sports betting is “a risk, and the guy who works the hardest and is the brightest is going to come out ahead,” he said.
Eventually, though, trouble came.
A 1988 story in the Los Angeles Times reported that Austin was arrested along with several others for conspiracy for bookmaking. The disposition of the case was not available.
Abroad, Austin’s marriage to the Costa Rican star was fodder for newspapers.
According to a June 19, 2002, story published in Spanish in La Nación, a Costa Rican newspaper published in San José, the couple married in July that year at the Hotel Camino Real-Intercontinental before an expected 300 guests, including media.
Diaz wore a dress that she bought in New York, and 26 musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra were expected to perform.
According to the story, the couple met while he was in Costa Rica. Diaz, a native of Puerto Rico, was a television host at the time.
According to a 2015 story in The Costa Rica Star, Austin, along with one-time Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre, was considered to be a pioneer of the sportsbook industry in Costa Rica.
The publication said their “opulent” nuptials were the stuff of legend, with $20,000 worth of flowers shipped from Guatemala.
The couple later divorced, and she said she used her settlement in a swimwear line she manages with her daughter, plus four real estate investments: two in Costa Rica, one in Miami and another in Aspen, Colorado.
Staff Writer Yvonne Valdez contributed to this report.
