BetonSports Founder Gary Kaplan Denied Bail
June 14, 2007
The founder of BetonSports, Gary Kaplan, has had his bid for bail thrown out by a St Louis federal court, where he faces racketeering and fraud charges.
The online gambling company pleaded guilty on 24 May to a single charge of racketeering conspiracy and is cooperating with prosecutors by providing evidence against Kaplan and 10 co-defendants.
Former chief executive David Carruthers, arrested nearly a year ago by US federal agents in transit at Dallas airport, denies similar charges and is under house arrest awaiting trial.
US magistrate Mary Ann Medler said there was a risk Kaplan would flee if freed. 'The defendant and his family have no real ties to anywhere or to any community,' Medler said.
Kaplan, 48, was arrested in a Dominican Republic hotel in March. He first appeared in court last month and pleaded not guilty.
Online gaming firms, most of them British, have been hit hard by a US campaign that claims the internet gambling industry, worth ?6bn in the US alone, violates federal laws against using a telephone or other electronic means to place bets across state borders.
A US law passed by Congress last year bars credit-card companies from collecting payments for such transactions, but lawyers for BetonSports, Carruthers and Kaplan say the law doesn't make the acceptance of US bets illegal.
BetonSports is insolvent and has filed for liquidation in the UK. However, there are now signs that the US may rethink its total ban. British firms 888 and PartyGaming say they are in talks with US authorities over an amnesty for past activities.
The move against the UK firms was seen largely as a bid by influential Las Vegas and state horse-racing interests to squeeze out competition.
The law was sponsored by an uneasy coalition of anti-gambling conservatives and Las Vegas firms, but the ban has simply driven online gambling towards less transparent companies than those, such as BetonSports, controlled by British law.
June 14, 2007
The founder of BetonSports, Gary Kaplan, has had his bid for bail thrown out by a St Louis federal court, where he faces racketeering and fraud charges.
The online gambling company pleaded guilty on 24 May to a single charge of racketeering conspiracy and is cooperating with prosecutors by providing evidence against Kaplan and 10 co-defendants.
Former chief executive David Carruthers, arrested nearly a year ago by US federal agents in transit at Dallas airport, denies similar charges and is under house arrest awaiting trial.
US magistrate Mary Ann Medler said there was a risk Kaplan would flee if freed. 'The defendant and his family have no real ties to anywhere or to any community,' Medler said.
Kaplan, 48, was arrested in a Dominican Republic hotel in March. He first appeared in court last month and pleaded not guilty.
Online gaming firms, most of them British, have been hit hard by a US campaign that claims the internet gambling industry, worth ?6bn in the US alone, violates federal laws against using a telephone or other electronic means to place bets across state borders.
A US law passed by Congress last year bars credit-card companies from collecting payments for such transactions, but lawyers for BetonSports, Carruthers and Kaplan say the law doesn't make the acceptance of US bets illegal.
BetonSports is insolvent and has filed for liquidation in the UK. However, there are now signs that the US may rethink its total ban. British firms 888 and PartyGaming say they are in talks with US authorities over an amnesty for past activities.
The move against the UK firms was seen largely as a bid by influential Las Vegas and state horse-racing interests to squeeze out competition.
The law was sponsored by an uneasy coalition of anti-gambling conservatives and Las Vegas firms, but the ban has simply driven online gambling towards less transparent companies than those, such as BetonSports, controlled by British law.
