When federal prosecutors in Connecticut unsealed a 45-count indictment in February 2026, the headline numbers were stark: approximately 3,000 stolen identities and roughly $3 million in alleged profits from online gambling companies — primarily through promotional abuse rather than traditional card fraud.
Amitoj Kapoor and Siddharth Lillaney, both 29 and from Glastonbury, Connecticut, face wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering charges. They have not been convicted; an indictment is an allegation, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty at trial.
The promotion-abuse angle
Licensed U.S. sportsbooks and casinos spend heavily to acquire customers: bonus bets, deposit matches, and risk-free first wagers. Prosecutors allege Kapoor and Lillaney industrialized that funnel by purchasing victims' personal data on the dark web, completing remote identity checks using background-search tools, and opening large numbers of accounts to harvest signup incentives.
When a promotional wager won, the indictment alleges, proceeds moved through platform-approved stored-value pathways into accounts the defendants controlled — converting marketing spend into cash.
Why operators care
This is not a story about an unlicensed site stealing deposits. FanDuel and other named operators were victims of external fraud, according to the government. The case highlights tension in online gambling economics: generous promotions attract real customers and criminal economies of scale simultaneously.
IRS Criminal Investigation and Connecticut consumer-protection regulators participated in the probe, signaling that gambling promotion fraud is treated as financial crime, not a terms-of-service nuisance.