In October, a bookmaker named Mark Ruff pled guilty to federal gambling and money laundering charges.
As part of the plea, he admitted that he received $230,000 on a NY Islanders check.
Apparently that led to NHL player Thomas Vanek.
Here is the October article:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...ruff/18168767/
Apparently the $230k was extorted out of Vanek by Ruff.
Ruff admitted in December that he extorted that $230k from Vanek, but insisted that Vanek only lost about $1-$2 million total, not $10 million as originally reported. It is not clear what the actual figure is.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...okie/19945173/
The weird thing is that Mark Ruff's attorney is insisting that indeed Vanek owed $10 million, but he wasn't expected to pay that much. Federal prosecutors say that isn't true, and that it was nowhere near $10 million:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...ling/20135233/ .... Is Ruff's attorney trying to paint him as a nice guy for not trying to collect the whole debt?
Here is some more info about the gambling operation:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...ling/12992495/
It is unclear if the NHL is going to investigate Vanek, or if he ever bet NHL games.
Ruff's attorney also said that Vanek was a gambling fish. "He wasn't very good", said the attorney.