4863 BetonSports Gamblers Remain Unpaid

Published: Friday, December 29, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

4 863 BETONSPORTS GAMBLERS REMAIN UNPAID

Lawyers for besieged betting group say Antiguan court order prevents payment

The plight of 4 863 unpaid BetonSports gamblers was highlighted this week in an article from the Bloomberg business news service in which lawyers for the besieged betting group said that the outstanding amounts cannot be paid due to an Antiguan court order placed on the assets of the company.

Bloomberg reported that BetonSports PLC, the London-based Internet gambling company barred from doing business in the U.S., owes money to at least 4 863 customers.

Betonsports can't comply with a November directive by U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson in St. Louis that it return US gamblers' deposits because the funds are controlled by the company's Antigua subsidiary, which is subject to the authority of courts in that Caribbean nation, attorney Jeffrey Demerath said in papers filed with Jackson Wednesday.

"The Antiguan government has demanded that it supervise the collection and distribution of monies which includes the payment of customers and other creditors," Demerath told Jackson in a status report filed at her request.

With the company's consent, Jackson last month issued a 21-page order permanently banning BetonSports from doing business in the U.S. The company took in $1.25 billion in wagers in 2004, 98 percent of which were placed by U.S. bettors using the company's Web site and phone lines, she said.

In a companion criminal case, St. Louis U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway in July unsealed an indictment accusing the company and 11 people associated with it, including Betonsports founder Gary Kaplan and former Chief Executive Officer David Carruthers, of racketeering and violating U.S. wire gambling laws.

The Antiguan situation could be complicated by the World Trade Organisation dispute between the Caribbean island government and the United States.