Fergie's Tech Blog

11 People, 4 Firms Charged In Internet Gambling Sting

An AP newswire article by David Koenig, via The Washington Post, reports that:

Federal officials charged 11 people, including the chief executive of an Internet gambling company, with conspiracy, racketeering and fraud in taking sports bets from U.S. residents.

BetonSports PLC and three other firms were also charged in the 22-count indictment, which was unsealed Monday in St. Louis. A federal judge there ordered BetonSports to stop accepting bets placed from within the United States.

The company's chief executive, David Carruthers, and four other defendants were arrested over the weekend. The Justice Department is seeking the forfeiture of $4.5 billion, cars and computers from the defendants.

Several other defendants live outside the United States, which will make them hard to apprehend, said U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway in St. Louis. "This is a tough crime to prosecute," she said.

posted by Fergie @ 7/18/2006 06:09:00 AM