<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=a18b>
International racketeering fugitive was caught with a Dominican passport, report
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>SANTO DOMINGO.- The Bloomberg news service reported on Wednesday that , who was denied bail by a federal judge in Missouri after his arrest on U.S. federal charges in a Dominican Republic hotel in March, was carrying a Dominican passport.
A U.S. Magistrate ordered that Kaplan, founder of the London-based online gambling company Betonsports, be held pending his trial on racketeering conspiracy and fraud charges. He was indicted with the company for violating U.S. laws barring Internet betting across state lines.
Bloomberg reports that Betonsports agreed to cooperate with prosecutors by furnishing evidence against Kaplan and 10 codefendants, who face a 22- count indictment.
Kaplan, 48, appeared in court for the first time last month and pleaded not guilty.
The report says online gambling is a $12 billion industry, though violates federal laws against using a telephone of electronic means to place bets across state lines. Lawyers for Kaplan say federal law doesn't make the acceptance of U.S. bets illegal.
Bloomberg reports that Kaplan had passports from the Dominican Republic, among other countries when he was arrested, in addition to carrying currency from Israel, Venezuela, Argentina, Switzerland, and others.
It says, quoting a note by St. Louis, Missouri federal judge Mary Ann Medler, that on his flight from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico after his arrest, Kaplan told FBI agents, “to the effect that the longer he stayed on the run from American law enforcement authorities, the more he thought he could outlast the indictment.''
http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=24299
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
International racketeering fugitive was caught with a Dominican passport, report
</TD></TR><TR><TD>
A U.S. Magistrate ordered that Kaplan, founder of the London-based online gambling company Betonsports, be held pending his trial on racketeering conspiracy and fraud charges. He was indicted with the company for violating U.S. laws barring Internet betting across state lines.
Bloomberg reports that Betonsports agreed to cooperate with prosecutors by furnishing evidence against Kaplan and 10 codefendants, who face a 22- count indictment.
Kaplan, 48, appeared in court for the first time last month and pleaded not guilty.
The report says online gambling is a $12 billion industry, though violates federal laws against using a telephone of electronic means to place bets across state lines. Lawyers for Kaplan say federal law doesn't make the acceptance of U.S. bets illegal.
Bloomberg reports that Kaplan had passports from the Dominican Republic, among other countries when he was arrested, in addition to carrying currency from Israel, Venezuela, Argentina, Switzerland, and others.
It says, quoting a note by St. Louis, Missouri federal judge Mary Ann Medler, that on his flight from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico after his arrest, Kaplan told FBI agents, “to the effect that the longer he stayed on the run from American law enforcement authorities, the more he thought he could outlast the indictment.''
http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=24299
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
