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BetonSports links to mafia family not all what they
seem
 Dominic
Rushe, reporting for the Times of London, has
connected the dots and landed BetonSports smack in
the middle of the Bonanno crime family.
BetonSports shut down
July 18 after several indictments were lodged
against it, the company's founder Gary Kaplan, CEO
David Carruthers and several others including Tim
Brown of BetMill.com (an arm of BetonSports), whose
position was equivalent to that of a janitor.
Brown is out on
bail in Philadelphia while David Carruthers sits in
a dark Dallas Fort Worth area jail cell waiting on a
Monday hearing. Others named in the indictment
have not been apprehended.
So what's the
Bonanno crime family link you might ask?
A company that
operated out of the BetonSports complex in the
sprawling Mall San Pedro, Safe Deposit Sports (SDS),
was part of an illegal gambling ring that netted
millions for the Bonannos, one of New York’s five
Mafia families, according to US prosecutors. SDS
shared an address, technical support and a solicitor
based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, with the
British online gambling firm, BetonSports.
Several individuals
were charged as part of the SDS investigation.
Gambling911.com was first to break this story the
day before authorities in New York held a press
conference and made the formal announcement related
to the actual indictment and various arrests.
One of those arrested was a groundskeeper at Mets
Stadium.
Gambling sources believe the US authorities’
investigations into SDS and other companies using
Costa Rican-based firms to circumvent US laws may
have triggered the prosecution of Betonsports.
But Gambling911.com
has learned that nobody familiar with the Safe
Deposit Sports investigation in New York had any
knowledge of the case involving BetonSports and its
founder Gary Kaplan.
The SDS case was
the biggest of its kind related to online gambling.
36 people linked to SDS were indicted by the US
authorities in May of 2005, charged with running an
illegal gambling operation that netted $360m (£193m)
over more than two years.
The indictment said Bonanno acting boss Anthony Urso,
also known as Tony Green, allegedly received an
unspecified monthly “tribute” from the gambling ring
for protection.
Betonsports is quoted in London, but has its
operations in Costa Rica. Ties between the two
companies appear to have ended when Betonsports
floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2004.
On November 15, 2003 the manager of SDS, a man
calling himself Barry Clark, set out his
relationship with Betonsports in an online-gambling
forum,
Offshore Gamblers Digest
(also known as Peeps Place), the Times reports.
Gamblers and potential clients had been discussing
links between the two companies. One gambler said he
had sent money to SDS and received a confirmation
e-mail from Jaguar Sports. This was the name of one
of the firms associated with Betonsports mentioned
in this month’s indictment.
Asked by a potential client what his company’s
relationship with Betonsports was, Clark wrote: “As
I have stated before, BOS and my companies are
independently owned.
Along with space here at The Mall I get the benefit
of tech support from BOS. Also, they maintain my
internet capabilities, along with my website.”
Both Betonsports and SDS have used the same
solicitor, Leamington-based Ian Burr & Co. According
to internet domain-name searches, Burr was described
as “administrative contact” and “technical contact”
for the sites.
Burr is the contact for Domain Choices, the company
that registers Betonsports’ website. Domain Choices
was the registrar for SDS in 2003.
Burr said he had no recollection of ever dealing
with anyone from SDS and was unaware the company had
used his name or address as its registered office.
“I can’t explain it,” he said. He said about 10
companies used his address as a legal office,
including Betonsports. “I wish I’d never agreed to
it,” he said.
A Betonsports spokesman told the Times that current
management had no knowledge of SDS. “There is no
relationship between Betonsports and this company in
our current situation or since going public.”
But BetonSports has
hosted numerous wagering operations on its premises
without any connection other than a "leasing"
arrangement.
MVP Sportsbook
(part of the VO Group) had operated from a corner
space in the BetonSports office prior to moving
across the street into a former bank. Early
this year, the company was acquired by its former
landlord. MVP Sportsbook did not even use the
same software platform or tech personnel as
BetonSports.
Likewise, BestLine Sports rented space from Gary
Kaplan but was never a brand of BetonSports.
And interestingly
enough, Jaguar Sports began operations as a separate
entity on the 8th floor of the BetonSports office.
Jaguar utilized the elaborate BetonSports call
center as a back up operation when lines coming into
the office were too congested. The company
managed all its own marketing while mostly following
BetonSports odds.
Jaguar Founder Sonny
Risken was a notorious swinger who co-authored a
series of books on the topic. He also believed
in freezing dead people in order to bring them back
to life at some later date, with a focus on freezing
gay people who had died of AIDS. Despite a
triple bypass operation, he continues his swinging
ways. Gary
Kaplan one day padded the doors to Jaguar Sports
office after being alerted that Sonny and his
partner Rich may have been diverting funds from the
company that were supposed to go towards BetonSports.
It is believed that Gary was receiving a portion of
Jaguar Sports earnings while they operated as an
independent entity.
Meanwhile, the Times also reports that Victor
Chandler, head of the eponymous sports-betting
company based in Gibraltar, has in recent weeks
shelved plans to launch in America following the
arrest of David Carruthers, even though they did
enjoy a brief stint catering to Americans during the
late 1990's as did competitor, William Hill.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Chandler
said: “America is a frightening place. I guess you’d
say we’ve had a lucky escape.”
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Christopher Costigan,
www.gambling911.com
Originally
published July 30, 2006 12:34 am EDT
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