[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: Most Canadians know
the Dominican Republic as a land
of sparkling seas
and endless beaches.
But if you find yourself on the
wrong side of the law here...
you'll discover a chaotic
and corrupt judicial system...
where normal rules do not apply.
We're entering the jail attached
to the main courthouse in
Santo Domingo, where we have
scheduled a rendez vu with a
Canadian businessman who
has spent the last two years
in Dominican prisons.
Antonio Carbone was running
a multimillion dollar casino
empire in this country, that he
found himself incarcerated in
January 2015, just two days
after his story was told on
The Fifth Estate.
We recorded this
interview surreptitiously.
>> Terence: Carbone has now
been sentenced to 20 years
in prison for attempted murder.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: What has become
a sordid tale of betrayal and
revenge started out
with a glittering dream.
Along with his
brother Francesco,
Antonio Carbone of Toronto
had big plans to build a
gambling empire.
Their company,
Dream Casinos, swept into
the Dominican Republic
in 2011 and bought up
a string of gambling facilities.
>> The company was
very successful,
was very prosperous.
We bought-- we bought
12 casinos in 13 months
and refurbished them.
I don't think it's ever
been done in history.
>> We did it.
Hard work.
>> We had the momentum.
>> Hard work.
Hard work.
>> There was a lot of blood,
sweat and tears behind it.
>> Terence: The blood,
sweat, and tears may have
come from the Carbone Brothers,
but the money for all this
came from one source.
Their only investor was Canadian
billionaire Michael Degroote.
A retired captain of industry
with a sterling reputation.
He lent the brothers over
$100 million because he knew
there was big money to be
made in the casino business.
>> He was very eager
to do this business,
'cause obviously he
knows where the money is.
Everybody gambles.
In good times or in bad
times, everybody gambles.
>> Terence: Before long,
however, Michael Degroote
heard rumours that the
Carbone brothers were
stealing from him.
He launched court actions
to recover his money.
One Canadian judge wrote,
"Michael Degroote has a strong
"prima facie case
of fraud against the Carbones."
>> So a prima
facie case of fraud.
What exactly does that mean for
the layman's of the world like
my brother and I?
Either there's a fraud,
or there's not a fraud.
Either I'm guilty of murder
or I'm not guilty of murder.
>> Terence: Don't you realize
that many Canadians will read
these receiver reports and
numerous allegations in there
and come to the conclusion that
you stole money from Degroote?
>> No where does
it say that--
>> Where does it say
that in that report?
>> --that I stole any money.
>> Where does it say
that in the report?
>> And I challenge anybody to
provide proof of-- of any monies
that I've stolen or any assets
that I have not disclosed
worldwide, that I
have not earned.
>> Terence: Michael Degroote
would later say he regretted
ever getting involved
in this venture,
and many wonder why he
would lend so much money to
two brothers with a shady past.
A few years before, they had
been involved in an Internet
gambling operation called
Platinum Sports Book that police
would later describe as a
partnership with the Mafia
and the Hell's Angels
motorcycle gang.
They had also been charged
with possession of unregistered
handguns, which they tried to
explain away by claiming they
had received death threats.
>> I opened the envelope.
There's a letter inside.
It says there's five
bullets here and another
five to go and you and
your brother's head.
>> Terence: Okay.
So your reaction to
this was to buy guns?
>> They were an insurance
to protect ourselves
and our family.
>> Terence: You guys seem to be
trying to convince me this was a
good idea.
In retrospect, don't you think
this was kind of a bad idea?
>> Absolutely--
>> It was a terrible idea.
But you asked me a
question, why did you do it?
And I gave you the
explanation of why it was done.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: When we left the
brothers at the end of 2014,
they were desperately fighting
to get back control of their
collapsing empire.
Because they were
losing court battles,
the casinos were being taken
away from them one at the time.
Police arrived with guns
drawn to carry out search
and seizure operations.
They were losing
their source of income.
Many of their former company
executives were turning on them.
>> We are sitting together
today, a year and a half
after the conspiracy
against us started.
We will regain control of our
corporation if it means the
death of me.
[ Siren Wails ]
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: In Santo Domingo
on December 1st, 2014,
the story took a violent turn.
One of the Dream Casino
executives who had turned
against the Carbone brothers
was the target of an attack.
[ Loud Blast ]
>> Terence: His jaguar
was blown up outside his
apartment building.
>> There is some glass here.
>> Terence: Fernando Baez said
someone was trying to kill him.
>> That is what is
left from my car.
You can see the
magnitude of the explosion.
It was two months ago
and look at the glass is
all over still.
>> Terence: Baez laid the blame
at the door of Antonio Carbone.
>> I'm not gonna let this
band of thieves directed by
Antonio Carbone kill me or
do any damage to my family.
'Cause justice is going to
take care of them here.
[ Speaking Alternate Language ]
[ Speaking Alternate Language ]
>> Terence: In January
2015 came the arrest of
Antonio Carbone, which was big
news in the Dominican Republic.
[ Speaking Alternate Language ]
>> Terence: The last two years
in prison have been hard ones
for Antonio Carbone.
He has seen numerous delays
in the judicial procedure
against him.
He has suffered health problems.
We were the first visitors
from Canada he has seen.
>> Well, I didn't do the crime.
>> Terence: It is true that
Antonio Carbone can prove
with airline records that
he was in Canada when the
car attack occurred.
And Fernando Baez
has changed his story.
At first, he told us and
the courts that the explosion
happened just seconds
after he left his car.
>> And three seconds
after I arrived to my house,
it exploded.
>> Terence: But later he told us
that he was not actually driving
the jaguar that night, and that
he was upstairs in his luxury
apartment when the
explosion occurred.
Underlying this whole story
is the reality that justice
is for sale in the
Dominican Republic.
There are allegations that both
sides in the Dream Casino battle
have been paying off police
and government officials to
do their bidding.
Antonio Carbone claims that
he is the victim of extortion,
that witnesses and even
Dominican officials have
frequently asked him for money.
[ Speaking Alternate Language ]
>> Terence: He is
right about that.
Judge Margarita Cristo Cristo
was removed from her position
for corruption...
..and prosecutor
Isidro Vasquez Pena
was arrested and charged
with soliciting a $125,000
bribe in another case.
>> Terence: While the case
against Antonio Carbone is
especially shaky, even by
Dominican justice standards...
the brothers still have
to explain a long,
sorted history in Canada.
In 2013, Toronto police laid
a criminal complaint against
Francesco Carbone, an allegation
that he plotted to cause the
death of another Dream
executive named Andrew Pajak.
The charge was said to be based
on a tape recording of him.
>> To be honest with you, I
didn't say anything on the tape.
I believe the tape
was spliced and cut,
and that's what the police got,
because of-- when I got charged
to all the appearances in court,
there was no disclosure--
>> Zero.
>> --of anything.
>> So was there really a tape?
>> I don't even know if
there was a tape!
>> Terence: Did you ever say
anything that could be taken as
a threat against the
life of Andrew Pajak?
>> Absolutely not.
>> Terence: Turns out
there is a tape recording of
Francesco Carbone apparently
plotting to murder Andrew Pajak,
a tape we obtained after our
original interview with the
Carbone brothers.
>> Terence: The tape was made
by criminal named Sasha Visser,
who here seems to be trying to
sell his services as a hitman.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: The charge
against Francesco Carbone
was eventually dropped and
he is suing the police for
malicious prosecution,
but now the brothers are
in more trouble because
of threats to another
corporate executive.
Today the
Dream Casino operations
in the Dominican Republic
are being run by Toronto
businessman Ed Kremblewski.
>> Terence: We
encountered him in 2014.
>> Terence: He has a
witness in the case against
Antonio Carbone.
>> Terence: He says
that he and his family
have been threatened...
and that someone fired a shot
at his house in Toronto last
August, an incident
reported to the police.
>> Terrence: This is where
some new shady characters
have entered the story.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: The Loners
motorcycle gang of Toronto
has a long history of
drug dealing, extortion,
and murder.
The Loners' leader
Gennaro "Jim" Raso and
his son Michael are accused
of uttering threats to
Ed Kremblewski and his family,
and the shooting at his house.
In a lawsuit, Kremblewski claims
that bikers warned him not to
testify against Antonio Carbone,
and that his family would face
maiming and death if the
charges were not dropped.
He says he was told his son
Justyn would be shot in the
head, and that his daughter
would be maimed and killed.
Kremblewski says Frank Carbone
is behind the intimidation
campaign, and has sued him for
damages in Ontario civil court.
The claims against him
and the Rasos are unproven.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
>> Terence: There are a lot of
losers as this story winds down.
Billionaire Michael Degroote
not only lost a lot of money.
He was embarrassed by
revelations that he had employed
a known gangster and testified
falsely about it under oath.
His lawyers claimed his
memory was impaired by
prescription drugs at the time.
Now they are saying he
is mentally incompetent.
Sasha Visser, the
criminal employed by Degroote,
is also now in prison in
the Dominican Republic.
As for Antonio Carbone,
facing 20 years in a Dominican
prison, the vicious battle
over Dream Casinos seems
to have broken his spirit.
[ ♪♪♪ ]
