BetOnSports Founder Gary Kaplan Pleads Not Guilty

[The Judge]

May 15, 2007

Gary Kaplan, the founder of online gaming firm BetOnSports yesterday pleaded not guilty to racketeering and wire fraud charges before U.S. District Court Judge Mary Ann Medler in St. Louis.

Kaplan was arrested in March in the Dominican Republic, having been on the run since June 2006 when he and ten other individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in Missouri on various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud.

According to the indictment, BetonSports.com, the most visible outgrowth of Kaplan’s sports bookmaking enterprise, misleadingly advertised itself as the “World’s Largest Legal and Licensed Sportsbook.” The indictment also alleged that Kaplan failed to pay federal wagering excise taxes on more than $3.3 billion in wagers taken from the United States, and is seeking forfeiture of $4.5 billion from Kaplan and his co-defendants, as well as various properties.

Clive Parritt the current chairman of BetOnSports stated earlier this month that the company was close to an agreement with the DoJ under which the case against BetOnSports would be closed. “We will agree that the company has been associated with being part of an 'illegal gambling enterprise' between 1992 and 2006 but essentially we are being penalized for buying the company from Kaplan" he told the Telegraph.
It was ordered that Mr. Kaplan continue to be held in custody until May 25th when a detention hearing will decide whether he may be released on bail.