David Carruthers may put up good fight

Call him a "puppet", a "figure head" for the "old regime" of BetonSports.com, one thing we can be almost certain of in the coming weeks and months ahead is that David Carruthers is not likely to roll over and play dead after last week's indictments.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri returned a 22-count indictment charging 11 individuals - David Carruthers included - and four corporations on various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud.  Carruthers served as CEO of BetonSports and helped take the company public in 2004.

Spending the past week in jail along side the likes of Bubba and Hercules might harden the balding, bespectacled 49-year-old with braces.  Spending a few years working along side the tough talking brash Brooklynite founder of BetonSports, Gary Kaplan, already has.  But while Gary Kaplan remains a fugitive living it up somewhere in Costa Rica, David Carruthers is taking it like a man - well, you know what we mean - in some lonely jail cell, hopefully alone. 

Carruthers is not one to lay back and roll over and few people could stand up to Kaplan the way that David did.  He also left a cushy long time job at Ladbrokes to pursue what he believed in, the world wide web.  Carruthers didn't see Ladbrokes paying much mind to the internet.  He stepped into a position at BetonSports where he practically took over the world wide web. 

BetonSports had grown to become the #2 North American market focused online gambling website followed only by Sportsbook.com.  Ironically, more of BetonSports business was directed towards its call center, which could very well have prompted last week's indictments.  Phone wagering is clearly "illegal" based on a dated 1961 "Wire Act" law originally intended to go after mob figures.  Interpretations of that law have not always been clear where the internet is concerned however. 

On Tuesday, the BetonSports Board of Directors finally released an official statement after Gambling911.com questioned why they had remained silent for over a week while employees lied to customers as to when or if the company would be back open for business.  They shut down the day after the indictments were unsealed and delisted on the London Stock Exchange. 

That statement included the termination of CEO David Carruthers.

"This action was taken as a consequence of Mr. Carruthers continued detention by U.S. authorities," the company said in a statement.

"Clearly, while he remains in the custody of the U.S. government, he is unable to perform his duties. Further the company has been unable to speak directly with Mr. Carruthers," it added.

Sources tell Gambling911.com that a number of "high level" officers in BetonSports.com have been looking to oust David Carruthers.  Despite these obstacles, it took an indictment for the company to finally dispose of him.  Even founder Gary Kaplan seemingly despised Carruthers prior to leaving BetonSports completely over a year ago. 

"There are people in the company looking to take his position," a source disclosed many months ago.  "(David) Carruthers days will be numbered soon."

Perhaps not knowing the potential ramifications as a British citizen, David was not shy about letting the US government have a piece of his mind.  Carruthers was among the most outspoken opponents to proposed online gambling legislation and had been communicating with some congressmen prior about it prior to his indictment. 

There are some who believe that Carruthers efforts to regulate online gambling are derived from personal beliefs than those of BetonSports.

For example, while other key management figures in the organization were more interested in throwing lavish parties and driving around the US in stretch Hummers, Carruthers was busy fighting for the industry. 

Carruthers only knows the bookmaking industry and he knows it from his many years with legitimate gambling firms such as Ladbrokes in Great Britain where he started at age 19.  Carruthers helped to take BetonSports to the next level.  He is a qualified professional that may very well be in high demand by European bookmaking shops when he is finally freed but only if he chooses to fight for what he believes in.  If he doesn't, he may never find a job in this industry again.  His name will be "Mud". 

Our advise: Don't underestimate David Carruthers.  While David is likely to give up whatever information there is on BetonSports founder Gary Kaplan without even being prompted to do so by prosecutors, that is about the extent of it in terms of Carruthers submitting in any way (though after his abrupt firing we can only guess he might be pointing fingers at others in the BetonSports organization considering the indictment reads up to April of this year). 

We could be in for a long and exhausting fight.  His fate may very well determine the future of online gambling and the potential for some form of regulation.  Expect a powerful legal team to represent Mr. Carruthers and do not expect any plea bargains.  David already waived his rights to a hearing in Dallas this past Friday.  You read it here first. 

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Christopher Costigan, www.gambling911.com

Originally published July 25, 2006 7:01 pm EDT