Carruthers Abandoned By BetonSports?

Published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

CARRUTHERS ABANDONED BY BETONSPORTS?

Jailed online gambling executive is "removed" by UK gambling group

Shock news from the BBC this morning (Tuesday) is that BetonSports directors have unceremoniously fired jailed CEO David Carruthers "as a consequence of [his] continued detention by US authorities."

A spokesperson said the company ended Carruthers' contract and removed him as a director after his detention in Dallas last week.

In referring to Carruthers, a company spokesperson said: "Clearly, while he remains in the custody of the U.S. government, he is unable to perform his duties. The company has been unable to speak directly with Carruthers and has communicated with him only through lawyers."

The company is currently being managed in Carruther's absence by members of its board of directors including Chairman Clive Parritt, Finance Director Richard Creed and non-executive director Chris Callaway, spokesperson Hannah Seward said.

The board also distanced itself from founder and allegedly 15 percent shareholder Gary Kaplan, who is being sought by the American federal authorities - saying that he has no managerial role with the firm and worked only as a consultant.

The CEO was detained by federal authorities in the Dallas-Fort Worth transit lounge last week as he changed planes on a trip from the U.K. to Costa Rica. He is named in a federal grand jury indictment against 11 people connected to BetonSports, with 22 accusations of racketeering, tax evasion, fraud, money laundering and illegal sportsbetting by telephone. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Betonsports founder Gary Stephen Kaplan, 47, who is among those charged in the indictment but is till at large.

Following his arrest, Carruthers was held in detention for a week before appeared before a federal district court in Texas. His lawyers requested a postponement to enable him to appear in a St. Louis, Missouri court at a later and as yet unnamed date, and the court granted this, with Carruthers remaining in custody as (according to the prosecution) "a flight risk."

Carruthers has been an outspoken opponent of US moves aimed at banning banks and credit card companies from processing internet gambling payments, and indeed US political moves to ban online gambling in general, urging instead regulation and taxation.

BetonSports said in a separate statement that it's evaluating all options and deciding what measures to take next.

"Since the time of its public listing, the board believes the company has operated in accordance with the standard expected of a U.K. Plc which is publicly quoted on AIM on the London Stock Exchange,'' the company said in the statement.

Shares of Betonsports have been suspended since July 18, the day after the company and its chief executive were indicted in the U.S. The companies US-facing Internet betting website has closed temporarily following successful moves by the US authorities to obtain a federal court injunction against further operational activity.

In a sidebar story appearing in the online journal Gambling 911.com, editor Christopher Costigan reports that: "Nearly everyone listed on that indictment are long gone from the company. In fact, Carruthers is the only one remaining. Peter Wilson was there up until two months ago. Tim Brown left last year. Gary's brother has been gone nearly three years. And Norman Steinberg (AKA Tom Miller) has been in and out of the company for over two years following a previous indictment that has absolutely nothing to do with online gambling."

Describing BetonSports as "a sleeping giant, non responsive, and focused so intently on pleasing shareholders with lofty expansion plans over the past two years that there is no plan in place to manage 'crisis' situations such as this one," Costigan criticises the company for its lack of communication with its customers. "BetonSports needs to issue a statement and issue it quick," he said.

Costigan also castigated the betting group for an apparent attempt to pass off one of its staffers as an unassociated player and "concerned citizen" called Molly Flynn, who "....carelessly refers to the company as 'We' when expressing how BoS has been treated by Gambling911.com, while trying to disguise herself as a 'concerned citizen'."

It is not at present known whether BetonSports has completely disassociated itself and its legal funding from Carruthers.