Online gaming firm, BETONSPORTS PLC (BSPTF.PK) is a British owned firm based out of Costa Rica. It's CEO, along with 10 others, is being held in the US based upon a 22-count indictment unsealed this week by federal prosecutors in St. Louis. The company is accused of fraudulently taking bets from U.S. residents for failing to pay excise taxes.
BETONSPORTS PLC (BSPTF.PK) is no longer taking any wagers. The CEO has been fired.
The firm's founders, while supposedly no longer involved with the company, have also been in deep trouble over the years and are largely unaccounted for.
Essentially it's a huge mess. But what would you expect from on-line gaming? While it it is illegal to run an on-line gaming site from within the US, there's little to stop people from gambling on-line with overseas firms. Now there are challenges to that ban and even the World Trade Organization recently ruled that the US ban on on-line gambling was in breach of international trade law.
Every day, people wreck their financial lives by gambling their money away - but folks also ruin their health through smoking and drinking. To what degree should the government be able to rule how individuals spend (or waste) their money?
.jpg)
Comment Preview