Gary Kaplan, Founder of BetonSports.com, Arrested by U.S. Agents

Gary Kaplan, the founder of BetonSports was arrested Wednesday in the Dominican Republic. He was then sent to Puerto Rico where he made an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

This is the latest in a series of arrests which came down after Kaplan and 10 others were indicted in June of 2006 by a federal jury in Missouri. Kaplan’s brother, Neil, was arrested in Florida, while David Carruthers, the Chief Executive of BetonSports was taken into custody during a layover at a Texas airport. William Luis Lenis, Manny Gustavo Lenis, and Tim Brown have also all been taken into custody.

The United States is asking that Kaplan be brought back to St. Louis and held without bond pending a hearing.

Kaplan, 47, was charged in June with 20 felony violations including tax evasion, the Wire Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy, and interstate transportation of gambling paraphernalia.

In 1993, Kaplan was arrested on New York state gambling charges and then moved his operations to Florida. He eventually moved his business offshore to Costa Rica after trying Aruba and Antigua.

BetonSports, which was once traded on the London Stock Exchange, closed down its U.S. business in August of 2006. This business accounted for 95% of their profits.

Kaplan is widely regarded as the man who revolutionized online sports betting through creative marketing strategies. BetonSports would accept everything from bets on cricket matches to which celebrity would be the next to beat their wife.

Kaplan would introduce himself as Greg Champion, believing that he had powerful enemies out to get him (looks like he was right). And not only was he surrounded by bodyguards at all times, but he also practiced his handgun skills at a private firing range inside the offices of BetonSports.

It is still unknown why a man who was wanted in the United States would travel to the Dominican Republic, a country with a clear policy of extraditing criminals to the U.S. Whatever the reasons, it looks as though it will be the last mistake that Gary Kaplan will make as a free man. The Bush administration wins again.

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Gary Kaplan, Founder of BetonSports.com, Arrested by U.S. Agents