Liquidators for once successful online gambling provider urge players owed money to get in touch.
Monday 2nd June 2008
Players owed money by former online gambling provider BetOnSports have been urged by liquidators Vantis Business Recovery Services to submit any claims immediately as it announced that the business was insolvent by over $25 million.
BetOnSports ceased operations in July of 2006 following an indictment and permanent injunction issued by the US Department of Justice and it was subsequently placed under the control of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission. With former Chief Executive Officer David Carruthers along with founder Gary Kaplan still confined in the US awaiting trial, Vantis was appointed liquidators for BetOnSports in August of last year.
Vantis reported that BetOnSports has experienced significant difficulties since being forced to shut two years ago and described the ‘devastating effect’ the US Department of Justice’s actions had on a once successful firm.
'By the time of our appointment, the company’s books and records demonstrated that its realisable assets were less than the aggregate of its liabilities or, in short, the company was insolvent,” read a statement from Vantis.
'A statement of the company's assets and liabilities provided by the BetOnSports board of directors in February of 2007, seven months prior to our involvement, shows assets of the company of ten million dollars and liabilities of $26.9million. Although the liabilities figure includes betters/players/customers balances of $6.8million, we now know that these players are owed over $15.8million as per the company's database.'
Vantis stated that BetOnSports is now insolvent by over $25 million on a book value basis even though it received two million dollars in asset realisations from the Financial Services Regulatory Commission. It stated that an additional eight million dollars is known to be outstanding from debtors across the globe that it is attempting to collect.
'Many players have not been reached because they have invalid e-mail addresses or the database information held for them on the BetOnSports system has been corrupted,” read the statement.
