KAPLAN IN COURT

18 May 2007

Betonsports founder pleads not guilty to racketeering and other charges

Gary Stephen Kaplan, the founder of besieged Betonsports.com online gambling group who was arrested in Dominica last month on a slew of alleged US crimes and extradited back to America, appeared in court this week.

Kaplan had been sought by the FBI for some eight months (see previous InfoPowa report) following the arrest of the company's CEO, David Carruthers and others triggered a Department of Justice action that has brought the company to its knees. Carruthers, a British subject, remains under house arrest in St. Louis and still awaits trial on charges he has strongly denied.

Reuters reports that Kaplan appeared before Judge Mary Ann Medler of the U.S. District Court and entered a plea of not guilty.

She ordered him to remain in custody pending a May 25 detention hearing that may determine if he can be released on bond.

Kaplan was indicted in June of 2006 by a federal grand jury in Missouri which accused him and 10 others of engaging in racketeering, conspiracy and fraud arising from the operation of Costa Rica-based Internet gambling businesses.

Betonsports, which once traded on the London Stock Exchange, was forced in August 2006 to close down its U.S. business which accounted for 95 percent of its profits. It has since intimated that it is likely to go into liquidation, with its Antiguan subsidiary left to pay off US players.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa