Flogging a dead horse

The US enforcement and legal system took what appears to be token final kick at the carcass of bankrupt online gambling group BetonSports this week when a federal judge in St Louis sentenced the firm, which has been defunct for several years, to probation and a $28.2 million fine that lawyers on both sides admit is unlikely to be paid.
Company founder Gary Kaplan was sentenced last month to 51 months in prison forfeiture of $43.65 million after pleading guilty  to conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and violating the Wire Wager Act. The company’s erstwhile CEO David Carruthers remains untried and under house arrest in St Louis after several years in limbo.
Associated Press reports indicate that in the latest development a federal judge placed BetOnSports on probation for five years and issued the fine. But company legal representatives claim the company has more liabilities than assets, and that it still owes U.S. gamblers $7 million to $8 million.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Holtshouser told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the actual amount of money owed to U.S. gamblers probably is much higher, estimating that only about half of those gamblers went through the steps to verify to liquidators money owed to them.

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