Co-Defendant in BetonSports Case Likely to Remain in Costa Rica

Norm Steinberg, who once ran BetonSports.com's second most successful branding concept, Millennium Sports, is likely to remain in Costa Rica.  He and a low level marketing associate, Peter Wilson, have yet to be detained in a case that netted BetonSports founder, Gary Kaplan, last week in the Dominican Republic.

"Mr. Steinberg has married a local Costa Rican attorney and is a citizen of the country," a source explained to Gambling911.com.  "Costa Rica's extradition laws with the United States government do not allow for extradition in most cases when you become a nationalized citizen of the country as Mr. Steinberg has done."

Millennium Sports itself was once considered among the largest online betting companies, bigger than most of its counterparts in the sports betting Mecca of Costa Rica.  It's office alone encompassed an entire floor in the Mall San Pedro outside Costa Rica's capital city of San Jose.  Some of the BetonSports spin off brands like Infinity and Gibraltar were more closely connected with Millennium Sports than they were BetonSports.

Gary Kaplan was expected to be transported from Puerto Rico to St. Louis shortly.  BetonSports former CEO, David Carruthers, has remained in St. Louis under house arrest after being detained in Ft. Worth, Texas, while enroute from London to Costa Rica.  He is a British citizen. 

BetonSports current Board of Directors are being fined $10,000 a day for failing to show up in court to answer the complaint.  Most of the Board of Directors have returned back to the United Kingdom following the closure of BetonSports.  All customers have been stiffed out of money.  It was unclear at press time whether the US government would seek to have these board members indicted and extradited back to the United States.  This was doubtful since one of the board members is a high ranking political leader and Lord in the country.

Peter Wilson's whereabouts remain unknown.  Sources close to Gambling911.com suggest it is possible for him to return back to the United States without anyone noticing since the Department of Justice indicted the marketing employee under his alias name.

Press accounts by the Department of Justice regarding Gary Kaplan's arrest in the Dominican Republic made it sound as if they just captured Bin Laden. 

"Interpol Washington and Interpol Buenos Aires have worked tirelessly in cooperation with the International Police in providing information that was crucial in the apprehension and deportation of Kaplan," said Roland Corvington, special agent in charge of the FBI St. Louis, Missouri, office, in a press release.

"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,” he added.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published April 3, 2007 9:57 am ET