BetOnSports Pleads Guilty to Racketeering

Online gaming operator BetOnSports has submitted a guilty plea to a federal court in Missouri (where Gary Kaplan had denied the same charges), to charges of money laundering and racketeering.

The London-based company will now faces fines of up to $500,000 (£251,880), plus billions of pounds in forfeitures and the return of money held on behalf of US account holders.

BetOnSports will also supply witnesses and evidence in the continuing case against its founder Mr Kaplan and former CEO David Carruthers as part of the agreement to avoid further criminal prosecution.

Both men remain under arrest pending trial.

US attorney Catherine Hanaway stated that the plea “should put an end to the BetOnSports illegal gambling empire.”

According to the lawyer representing BetOnSports, Jeffrey Demerath, the firm will now cease operating and be wound up.

BCA Criticizes Tessa Jowell

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has been hit with claims of 'blatant unfairness' in her treatment of existing gambling businesses as she forges ahead with plans to introduce a number of new casinos to the UK market.

Jowell was challenged in the High Court by the British Casino Association (BCA), who queried the legitimacy of the Government's new gaming policy, which includes the controversial opening of one 'super-casino'.

The BCA, which guards the interests of more than 90% of current British casinos, argued the new casino firms will be given a biased and illegitimate competitive advantage.

The Association informed the judge existing casino businesses could lose out on as much as £120 million a year in profits while old operators may be forced to fold.

Michael Beloff QC, appearing for BCA and four of its member companies said: ‘Whether she deliberately abandoned that policy or not, she has created a situation in which existing casinos are condemned to second-class status.’

If the BCA's application for judicial review at the three-day hearing is a success, it may change the shape of the UK gaming industry as a whole.

PartyGaming Beefs Up Security

Leading online gambling firm PartyGaming, which operates a host of sites including PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com and PartyBingo.com, has subscribed to a large affiliate fraud monitoring contract with Envisional.

The company will utilise its A31 intelligent search technology to identify, analyse and verify all suspected cases of affiliation to PartyGaming’s six main websites and detect any abuse of PartyGaming’s name and brands.

Martin Weigold, Group Finance Director with executive responsibility for corporate social responsibility at PartyGaming, said: ‘We take our legal obligations and ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Envisional’s advanced artificial intelligence capabilities will help us ensure continued compliance with strict marketing regulations, as well as protect the party brands in which we have invested so heavily over the years.’

Envisional’s A3I – Advanced Automated Artificial Intelligence – technology scans the world wide web for text, logos or images including those used on blogs, auction sites, trade boards, Internet Relay Chat channels and peer-to-peer networks, listing results in order of urgency and importance.