US state police issue warrants for more Sportingbet staff as it investigates other companies
Wednesday 27th September 2006
The head of the Louisiana State Police casino section has said in an interview with the Financial Times that Peter Dicks is just one of four Sportingbet executives with arrest warrants against their names, as the state looks to banish Internet gambling.
Captain Joe Lentini, head of the casino section of Louisiana's Police Gaming Enforcement division, said in an interview on Wednesday that the four Sportingbet warrants, which included one for former chairman Peter Dicks, were for company executives or directors although he declined to confirm any names.
However he did continue to confirm that his department was in the process of investigating other unnamed companies. 'We have agents all over the state working on this daily. There are other sites we're looking into,' Lentini said.
Sportingbet executive director Nigel Payne wrote in an article for the Times newspaper yesterday that the opposition to online-gambling was motivated purely by commercial interests.
'I believe that the real picture that emerges is one of fiscal protectionism that is being masked by political manoeuvring and adroit public relations,' he said.
Peter Dicks is due to appear in a New York court tomorrow to hear if he will be extradited to Louisiana.
