BETonSPORTS takes a plunge as Chief executive David Carruthers and others were arrested.
9 Mai 2007 David Carruthers, the chief executive of BETonSPORTS, was arrested last Monday while he was waiting at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on his way to Costa Rica. 11 men from BETonSPORTS have been included in the federal indictment.
David Carruthers, chief executive of BETonSPORTS, was arrested Monday while he was waiting at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on his way to Costa Rica. Four other men linked to the company, which operates from Britain, were also taken in custody else where.
A warrant of arrest was issued against the firm’’s founder, Gary Kaplan, who lives in Costa Rica. Federal officials said the others arrested included Kaplan’’s brother, Neil Scott Kaplan, who was in charge of purchasing for the company and was taken into custody in Florida. Two others were held in Miami and another in Philadelphia. In total, 11 men are named in the arraignment.
While the U.S. is currently considering new legislation that ultimately aims at banning internet gambling, but the 22-count indictment charges the executives with racketeering and wire fraud.
The new bill that was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives makes most forms of internet gambling illegal where banks and credit card companies are prohibited from having any financial transactions with online gambling sites. The bill will soon be in the Senate.
The government has submitted in documents in the court their intent to seek forfeiture of assets worth over $4.5 billion from the company and its executives.
BETonSPORTS website, betonsports.com, offers betting on baseball, soccer, football, boxing, rugby and also includes casino games like poker, blackjack and craps.
The arrests and legal action have virtually thrown Europe’’s multibillion-dollar online gambling industry into chaos, according to observers. In London, stock prices of major firms in the industry, that includes PartyGaming and SportingBet, dropped as the firms were debating strategies to ward of any penal action.
Though its website was still operational, trading in BETonSPORTS shares was suspended in London. Even shares of leader PartyGaming plunged down by 17 percent.
According to analysts, online betting is estimated to be a $12 billion industry and it may double in size by 2010.