Charlie Therwhanger and Aces Gold, etc. (ancient history)

[Mousey]

I was only a noob when the Aces Gold crap hit the fan, and only have a very vague recollection of even reading about it online. Not being a sportsbetting enthusiast I never really paid any attention to the story and had completely forgotten about it till I ran across some reminders while looking for something else.

My question (with combined rant), is this:

Our government indicts and incarcerates owners of legitimate offshore sportsbetting that pay their customers (including US citizens), but a US citizen (Therwhanger) owns an offshore sportsbetting shop, then closes the doors, absconds with millions, and leaves millions owed to players (including US citizens) and the guy comes back to the U.S. and life goes on like it never happened?? Is there more to this than I've been able to find on the web? Am I missing an important piece to this?

And I'd like to know more about Tony Cohelo, too....

Anyway... the following is from Jay Cohen's site

...
The US government has never made an effort to go after scam operations that set up offshore and stole the customers’ money. Two places that come to mind are Sports International which traded on the NASDAQ stock market and Aces Gold. Sports International closed their doors and stiffed it’s customers of their deposits back in 1997. Tony Cohelo, the former Majority Whip of the US House of Representatives, and more recently Al Gore’s National Campaign Chairman, served on their Board of Directors. No action was ever taken against Mr. Cohelo, despite the fact that the government knows where he is and that people were robbed. The other company I mentioned is called Aces Gold of Curacao. It was operated by Mr. Charlie Therwhanger originally from Lubbock, Texas. Shortly after the 2002 Superbowl, Therwhanger decided to pull the plug and leave the customers high and dry. Estimates of customer losses are over $10 million. Mr. Therwhanger returned to the US, where no action has ever been taken against him by the government. I am sure they know where and who he is.
There are several other disreputable places that have come and gone over the years. The United States has never gone after any of them.

[lojo]

I hadn't heard of Cohen before... but found his freejaycohen site and researched his appeal on findlaw.

[fcat]

You made some great points mousey, and I hope somebody on the forum reads this,and is knowlegeable enough to answer.

[USA2112]

Pad a few pockets and you can get away with anything in America, its all about the money.

And I'd like to know more about Tony Cohelo, too....

The Rich and Powerful
Fundraisers and close associates of Gore

Tony Cohelo: Second of Gore's three campaign managers. Resigned from Congress in disgrace after a scandal involving an improper deal on a $100,000 junk bond. Currently the subject of four separate federal investigations While in office, Cohelo violated campaign finance laws by accepting the use of a private yacht owned by a savings-and-loan-mogul Donald Dixon. Dixon's S&L bailout later cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.

[peteyweestro]

yes it's most terrible that places like bet on sports get shut down....they were the absolute best....