BetOnSports Board’s testimony could help Gary Kaplan’s defence
Tuesday 5th June 2007
Lawyers for the founder of BetOnSports, Gary Kaplan, may be counting on testimony from the company and its Board of Directors to help their client's case.
BetOnSports closed in July of 2006 following a series of 22 indictments for racketeering, conspiracy and fraud against Kaplan, then CEO David Carruthers and several other co-conspirators. The company later pled guilty in relation to a racketeering conspiracy charge, a move that saw them fined $500,000 (£251,880) plus billions of pounds in forfeitures.
Kaplan was captured in the Dominican Republic in March of this year and extradited to the US for trial. Although no trial date has been set, sources close to the situation say that BetOnSports agreed to full document disclosure and testimony in its plea agreement. This could see members of the Board taking the stand to speak on the company’s behalf during the trials of Carruthers and Kaplan.
It is rumoured that Kaplan has some of the best attorneys in the country including the famed Benjamin Brafman and these could then question why those running the company at the time of the indictment are not standing trial while a person who was no longer involved with the company at that time is.
It is thought that attorneys for Kaplan believe that any testimony from company officials would demonstrate that their client had left soon after BetOnSports was taken public.
