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Yet another piece of interesting news from gambling911
With the noteworthy arrest of BetonSports.com founder, Gary Kaplan, Wednesday evening came various statements from US authorities.
One in particular has the online gambling empire of Costa Rica on edge Friday.
Roland Corvington, Special Agent in Charge, FBI St. Louis Office, said in a statement Friday. “The U.S. State Department, specifically in Costa Rica, has provided and will continue to provide, vital assistance in relation to all aspects of this investigation including the apprehension and deportation of fugitives such as Gary Kaplan.”
According to those close to the Antiguan government, there has been a huge surge in applications for online gambling licenses there over the past three months. This follows Bodog.com’s announcement that it is in the process of relocating much of its gaming related business to the tiny Caribbean nation.
On Friday, Antigua won a landmark World Trade Organization case against the United States. The WTO appeal panel judges that American government is discriminatory when it comes to online gambling.
Antigua is one of the world’s largest and most respected online gambling jurisdictions. It is also one of the first with licenses handed out beginning in 1995. The first online betting firms (BetWWTS.com, Carib, Sports International, English Sports Betting) began setting up shop there in the early 1990’s. BetWWTS.com and Carib would later pave the way towards regulation in Antigua with their stellar reputations.
Kaplan’s arrest came on what is now believed to be the darkest day in bookmaker history – Wednesday March 28. His arrest followed close to 70 others stateside, mostly agents and credit bookmakers with ties to a nondescript call center in Costa Rica. On Tuesday night, Gambling911.com had warned the online gambling community of the doom that loomed for Wednesday.
No Celebration for BetonSports Customers
The capture of BetonSports’ founder Gary Kaplan will mean little to the hundreds of customers and employees still owed money by the company. Kaplan had little say in the day-to-day operations during its final year and expressed regret for turning the business over to British “suits”.
“Gary would never have shut down BetonSports!” exclaimed one close associate.
Kaplan, who was extremely hands on with his business, is widely credited for opening up the industry through gorilla marketing tactics that included full page advertisements in mainstream media publications like Maxim, massive radio spots and billboards leading into major metropolises. His claim to fame to this day remains having a government agency (New York City’s MTA) accept well over a million dollars to place BetonSports ads on yellow taxis and buses.
Kaplan’s younger brother and older sister were released on bail late last year. BetonSports CEO David Carruthers remains under house arrest outside St. Louis where he must wear an ankle bracelet 24 hours a day. Carruthers – who is British – has been deemed a “flight risk” and Mr. Kaplan likely will be labeled the same once he returns to the continental US. Kaplan was being held briefly in Puerto Rico.
Sources close to Gambling911.com believe he will be flown to St. Louis via Miami on an American Airlines flight shortly.
thanks Karim, very interesting article.
The US and Costa Rica maintain close ties and the FBI does have a field office there, so you have to assume that CR would do whatever the US asked them to…
and I am in the process of relocating there….
and I am in the process of relocating there….
I was thinking about going there until a friend came back from a short work stunt there and said.. Don’t go there, it is a big mess and the crime is off the hook getting out of control!
Ouch, thanks for the info
San Jose Costa Rica is the only place I have ever been where all the houses have tall iron fences with barbed wire all around and stores hire goons with machine guns to guard the entrance.
TV seems to make a sport of showing arrests and confrontations between victims and criminals.
I have never seen anything the like.
The county side is beautiful and people seem real nice, but the city seems to be a mess.
:omg: I also didn’t know that there was so mess in Costa Rica.
Karim, you have to find another place in the world :wink-winkThe worst part about that description, from what I understand, despite all the problems (not including issues with gambling and the US), it’s still one of the safer, more stable countries in Central America.
It would seem that for the foreseeable future, the UK and UK “protectorates” like channel islands, gibraltar are the best places to work as an operator in this industry.
aksana wrote::omg: I also didn’t know that there was so mess in Costa Rica.
Karim, you have to find another place in the world :wink-winkWell like someone in the industry said at CAC Las Vegas, you just gotta have BALLS, Costa Rica here I come.
pearlgaming wrote:Well like someone in the industry said at CAC Las Vegas, you just gotta have BALLS, Costa Rica here I come.cool :bigsmile: I’m glad to hear that.
Aksana I am sure you are :wink-wink
I have done some extensive travelling through Central America and I am going back to Belize later this year.
San Jose is Hell, but the further away you go from that city the nicer it gets. I still remember being in downtown San Jose and having a bunch of hookers trying to steal my wallet. I had one pulling on my… unit… and the others were reaching all over. Quite the experience. Don’t let San Jose influence your opinion of the country in general. That city is hell but the rest is paradise.
Same thing with Belize. Belize City is a dump, but the rest of the country is beautiful.
I think that it’s a trend that reflects many poor countries, the large cities struggle to balance poverty with development. Meanwhile in the country people are used to living off of their land, and poverty does not equate hunger or unhappiness.
Antoine thanks for the info, I haven’t decided where in CR exactly I want to be yet, but I do know I want to be close to a place where I can go diving and I also know I do not want to live in the boonies, but at the same time do not want to be in San Jose after what you described, maybe the suburbs, who knows … I still have a few months to plan it.
I would check out Guanacaste area. I found it to be beautiful there. It’s near the city of Liberia which has a population of 40000. It’s also the most touristy area so if you like beaches, mountains, and nature stuff that is where to go.
I am not sure how good the infrastructure is there unfortunately.
I once stayed at a resort in Nicoya and there was black sand beaches there. There’s also traditional white sand beaches all around that area.
If you want to be close to San Jose I think there’s decent areas that are about an hour away. I’m not sure if that is too far for you or not.
