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Bets Off As BETonSPORTS Goes Bust
Online gambling group BETonSPORTS (BoS) is
finally going out of business. The move comes
after it pleaded guilty in a US court to
racketeering - the US government has been
battling to shut down online gaming sites.
It has agreed to co-operate and give evidence
against Gary Stephen Kaplan and other
co-defendants to avoid further criminal
prosecution, lawyers say.
"This plea, combined with the terms of the civil
junction should put an end to the BoS illegal
gambling empire," said prosecuting lawyer
Catherine Hanaway from a federal court in St
Louis, Missouri.
Mr. Kaplan was arrested in March in the
Dominican Republic.
The charges against him and the 10 others arise
from the operation of Costa Rica-based internet
gambling businesses.
BETonSPORTS, operating from Costa Rican and
which once traded on the Stock Exchange, was
forced to close its US business, which accounted
for 95% of its profits, in August 2006.
America's crackdown on online gaming began last
July after President Bush signed a law making
the online gambling business effectively
illegal.
Critics of the move say the US authorities were
simply protecting their own gaming industry.
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