The IRS Is Investigating the Owner of a Former Lubbock Restaurant
Federal agents are saying that David Campisi, the owner of Campisi's, a Dallas-based restaurant that opened a location in Lubbock in Fall 2016 and closed in Spring 2018, has ties to internet bookmaking websites in Costa Rica.
Bookmaking is described as the practice of determining odds, and receiving and paying off bets on the outcome of sporting events, political contests, and other competitions.
According to nbcdfw.com, agents for Homeland Security Investigations and the criminal division of the IRS searched safety deposits belonging to David Campisi, the restaurant owner, this past February.
The home of an alleged Campisi associate, Christoper "Gus" Schraeder, was also searched. He has since pleaded guilty to an illegal gambling charge.
Cellphone records show that the two had multiple contacts with Costa Rican telephone numbers linked to offshore internet-based sports websites. Apparently, between November 2015 and September 2018, Campisi had called or texted the Costa Rican numbers 190 times.
The investigation began after a separate 2012 probe, which target 20 bookies tied to an illegal gambling operation. During that investigation, Campisi and Schraeder were identified as large bookmakers.
The search warrant, which was mistakenly unsealed by prosecutors, says that Campisi and Schraeder have been working as large bookmakers since at least 2005. Apparently, a prosecutor intended to unseal an unrelated search warrant and transposed the case number.
David Campisi has yet to be charged, and, as of the publication of this story, hasn't released any statement about the investigations.
Campisi's in Lubbock closed in April 2018, less than two years after its highly-publicized opening. It was the company's first venture out the Dallas-Fort Worth area.