Gambling911: Costa Rica Must be More Transparent Regarding 5Dimes Owner Demise
Late Saturday night the Costa Rica Star reported that 5Dimes Sportsbook owner Sean "Tony" Creighton's body had been recovered. He had been missing for three weeks and presumed abducted.
"That paper is the closest thing we have to the Associated Press out of Costa Rica, albeit on the tabloid side" notes Chris Costigan, Publisher of Gambling911.com. "When they report that the owner of 5Dimes body has been found, this can't be a made up story. We have to believe they have sources within law enforcement that confirmed this to be the case."
Carol Vaughn of the Costa Rica Star is indeed a well regarded journalist who broke the news Saturday night. She has covered many high impact stories in Costa Rica over the years.
On Sunday, Gambling911.com was advised that the family had been told this story is "inaccurate" while others familair with the Costa Rica Star suggested they were not 100 percent reliable.
Family and friends of Creighton had already been discussing memorial and funeral arrangements by Sunday morning after reading the sad news on Gambling911.com.
"Costa Rican police are withholding a great deal it seems," noted Costigan Sunday night. "The fact is that local Costa Rica media, Dairo Extra and the Costa Rica Star included, has photos of Sean's Porsche SUV and law enforcement claimed they could not verify the smashed vehicle belonged to Sean. I'm here to let everyone know there are probably no more than three such vehicles of this kind in Costa Rica, and I'm being conservative in saying this, they simply do not exist. A crashed unclaimed Porsche is Sean Creighton's and this doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize it is his. It is insulting when law enforcement cannot acknowledge this to be the case."
Costigan added that the Costa Rica Star has sources that "must know what is going on" but "do not want to jeopardize the investigation".
"Clearly the wife is a suspect and authorities are not sharing information with her," Costigan notes. "The spouse is typically the initial suspect in any murder case. That's not at all to say she is involved, but this is common sense."
Costigan added that Costa Rican law enforcement must be more forthcoming and transparent with information, especially since the family has its hand in 5Dimes and customer funds are at stake.
"The (online gambling) industry needs to know who is responsible and that this never happens again," he added.
Gambling911.com has been fast to hold government agencies and law enforcement accountable on its own turf and urges the free press of the world's second oldest democracy, Costa Rica, to do the same.
In 2009, Gambling911.com's sued the US Justice Department following fears that it was aware of a yet-to-be publicized ponzi scheme involving Full Tilt Poker and demanded that it release information pertaining to the investigation. While Gambling911.com won its case and was able to warn readers about the investigation into Full Tilt Poker, the majority of its customers were caught offguard in 2011 when the Justice Department ultimately shut down the criminal enterprise. The event would come to be known as "Black Friday". Most G911 readers had long gotten their money out. Others had to wait upwards of four years to receive their funds.
"We trust that the Costa Rican investigators are taking this matter seriously," Costigan added. "We expect them to be more transparent however."
Gambling911.com has estimated there are several thousand account holders currently active at 5Dimes.com, many of whom are worried in regard to the future of the company.
"Sean was a mathematical genius who lived and breathed 5Dimes and it was he alone who was responsible for its success," Costigan stated. "Without his presence, it would be ridiculous to suggest that there won't be an impact on that sportsbook."
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
