Defendant in BetonSports Case Refutes Financial Times Story

A defendant in the BetonSports case who remains in Costa Rica has lashed out at the Financial Times for its report that came out late Tuesday.

The Financial Times wrote that Norman Steinberg once bragged about his "criminal past" only months before the company completed its initial public offering.

“I’ve been in the can and been pushed around by the Feds ... and ya know what??...?I’m still ticking,” the paper claimed he wrote on a message board (aptly titled ThePrescription.com, which had nothing to do with the medical field and everything to do with sports betting) under the alias “Millenium Sportsbook” in September 2004.

Steinberg served a brief sentence for an offense unrelated to internet gambling. 

From the Financial Times of London:

"In 1999 the Department of Justice charged him with using forged prescriptions at the pharmacy he owned in Philadelphia to procure, with the intent to distribute, more than 500,000 tablets of prescription drugs, including Xanax, the designer prescription drug, and Percocet, a drug with opiate-like qualities. Some of the prescriptions bore the forged signature of a dead doctor."

Gambling911.com has learned that the doctor in question died while stuffing a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.  He was to appear as the government's chief witness in its case.  Steinberg was initially arrested at Miami's international airport while returning home from Costa Rica.

The Financial Times speculates in its report that Steinberg acted as an "informant" for the US Justice Department.  They claim he was facing a 31-year jail sentence and a $1.75m (£888,000) fine.

The US Government lost its key witness in a "prescription" case.  A doctor who allegedly "signed off" on a "much greater number of prescription medicines" compared to his colleagues, passed away while stuffing a turkey during Thanksgiving Day. 
 

"Court documents say that Mr Steinberg assisted in investigations in three other jurisdictions outside of Pennsylvania, testified before a US grand jury and wore a secret recording device to gather information.

"The Department of Justice described Mr Steinberg’s work for them as “dangerous”, adding he feared he would be murdered and feared for his family’s safety. He eventually pleaded guilty to a less serious but related crime, of omitting material information from required pharmacy records, in 2003, escaping with a $30,000 fine and time already served in jail. The other charges were dismissed."

Steinberg is not unlike a number of other individuals indicted over the years for running online gambling ventures that have been labeled "at large".  These include one founder and another executive in World Sports Exchange - a well regarded online gambling venture, an executive at Pinnacle Sports, and a handful of Royal Sports executives now working for various betting shops. 

One major difference, however, is that the above individuals were charged only with violation of a 1962 Wire Act.  Charges against Steinberg include money laundering and racketeering. 

Norman Steinberg is free to move around as he pleases in Costa Rica as a result of his obtaining citizenship there and his marriage to a local Costa Rican lawyer. 

Mr. Steinberg, through his representatives, refuted the Financial Times report late Wednesday night. 

"First off, it was no secret that I was indicted in 1999 for pharmacy related charges, it was of public record. Nor did I ever conceal the fact to anyone that I was indicted, and nor did I leave the US in 1997 because I felt an indictment was forthcoming. As for the grossly exaggerated years imprisonment that the reporter stated, that is not true either. I am not going to discuss the details of the case at this time as it is over, I have been punished, and set free by the judge to go on with my life here in Costa Rica."
 
"Secondly, if I had cooperated with the Justice Department either with the BOS case, or any other offshore industry concern, would they have let me return unconditionally to Costa Rica with my passport in hand? I would think that it would have been more convenient for them to have indicted and charged me with the crime while I was in DOJ custody, and not in July of 2006. Lastly, if it were true that I was such a tremendous informant why is it that I have been indicted in the BOS case, along with my son-in-law who wears a bracelet around his ankle to this day?"

"In speaking with my lawyer, Mr. Durant, he has not authored any of the answers as were published in this article by Mr. Pimlott. And furthermore, if indeed I was on the lam for five years, what the hell would I know about any "other" jurisdictions in the US? The author used his fantasy and speculation to go out of his way to make a mockery of the DOJ, BOS plc, my lawyer, and myself with one swift, careless swipe of his pen."

"No one should go any further than the title itself "Criminal Past of Betonsports co-founder" to say that this man has failed to check his sources and doesn't have a clue as to what he is speaking about."

Steinberg's nephew, Tim Brown, is facing up to 20 years in prison though he had no ownership in BetonSports or any of its connected businesses. 

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com

Originally published April 11, 2007 12:36 am ET