GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 10 - Sept 2009

:: GPWA Times B etOnSports founder Gary Kaplan agreed to a plea deal in July and will be sen- tenced to between 41 and 51 months in prison and forfeit $43.65million, according to a statement released by Acting United States Attorney Mi- chael Reap. “Kaplan admitted in court that beginning in the mid to late 1990s, he set up business entities offshore in Aruba, Antigua and eventually Costa Rica to provide sportsbook services to U.S. residents through Internetwebsites and toll-free telephone numbers,” the statement reads. Kaplan was arrested inMarch of 2007 in the Dominican Republic and faced 20 felony charges for allowing U.S. bettors to gamble at BetOnSports. As part of the plea arrangement, Kaplan will plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate the RICO statute, conspiring to violate theWireWagerAct and violating theWireWagerAct. “Gary Kaplan made millions of dollars by making it too easy for people to gamble away theirhard earnedmoney without having to leave their homes,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John Gillies. “Today’s guilty plea should have a lasting effect, because Kaplan was not only the founder of BetOnSports, he was alsooneof thepioneers of illegal online gambling.” Kaplan ran illegal sports betting operations in New YorkandMiamibeforesetting up BetOnSports in Antigua and Costa Rica. Kaplan was indicted for his role in BetOnSports in 2006. InApril,formerBetOnSports CEO David Carruthers pled guilty to racketeering c o n s p i r a c y and agreed to testify against Kaplan in exchange for receiving no more than 33 months in jail. BetOnSports agreed in May of 2007 toprovide witnesses and evidence against Carruthers and Kaplan. In return, then U.S. Attorney Cathe- rine Hanaway agreed to bring no further charges against any BetOnSports executives. BetOnSportsfounderreachespleadeal “We believe it is logical to assume that the U.S. market will eventually regulate given the potential implications for U.S. tax take, if nothing else.” — Investment firmGoldmanSachs in anote to investors “National Poker Week, with events in Washington, D.C., and across the country, is the PPA’s way to make it clear to my former colleagues in the U.S. Congress that poker is important to voters and is here to stay.” —PPAChairmanandFormer SenatorAlfonseD’Amato “The U.S. will be protectionist even if it regulates, and its withdrawal from its GATS commitments means that it doesn’t have to conform to any WTO regulation on Internet gambling.” —888CEOGigi Levy “It’s going to be an uphill battle to stop it this time. We caught them off guard last time. This time, they won’t be off guard.” —AlabamaRep. SpencerBachuson BarneyFrank’snewgamblingbill “So it is my intention this fall to bring up in the committee bills that I’m sponsoring. I think they’re going to pass. I am really optimistic we’re going to get this repealed.” —BarneyFrank “People have a right to play poker in their homes and the federal government doesn’t have a right to enforce against that.” —Rep. ShelleyBerkley (D-Nev.) Webmaster News “Intertops Casino is proud to have been powered by such a reputable, market- leading, gaming software provider over the past decade. The assistance that Microgaming has provided in the change process has been extremely helpful.” — Intertops executiveMichl Posch after theonline casino chose to end itspartnershipwithMicrogaming