It has been two years since the arrest of David Carruthers, CEO of now-defunct BETonSPORTS. Two long, drawn out years for nearly 70,000 players. The 2nd anniversary of the arrest on Wednesday sparked dozens of calls and emails all asking the same question. “What is going on with the payouts?”
We had not had much correspondence with Vantis, the government appointed corporate liquidator, in recent weeks. We echoed players; frustrations to them after their May correspondence and had received little from them since. But this week, we contacted them again, at the request of dozens of players. They were forthcoming with information, some positive updates and some expected status quo statements.
We wondered when Vantis was finally going to contact players who had not heard from them via US Mail. Vanits stated “A letter to players who we have not been able to contact by email will be sent within the next two weeks.” They went on to include that they have made arrangements to advertise in the US press inviting creditors/players to present claims. We expect that ads will be in the USA Today and several large metropolitan newspapers in the coming weeks.
Many players have asked us to find out “when is enough, enough?” These inquires wanted to know when Vantis will finally stop searching for players. Vantis stated, “A deadline for claims to be made has been given as 30 September 2008.” This is the first sign from the liquidators that this entire ordeal may finally be coming to and end ad is a positive update for players. If you have not previously contacted Vantis or OSGA regarding your claim please go to http://www.osga.com/Payout_form_BOS.htm and fill out our claim form.
Of course, the multi-million dollar question is when . . . when can players expect a check? We were told that due to the costs involved in making a distribution to such a large group it will be more cost effective and beneficial to players to make one dividend payment. They are expecting this payout to be made on the conclusion of the debt collection process. Vantis is still trying diligently to recover funds that BETonSPORTS had ‘out on the street’ at the time of their demise. These range from advertising that never ran, to mailers that never went out, to convention booths that were never manned. There is still a significant amount of money to be refunded to Vantis and they are expecting to get some of it back. This will certainly help the bottom line for players.
However, Vantis reiterated that it is “unlikely a dividend will be made prior December 2008 at the very earliest.”
We are again sending Vantis another file of players who have completed the payout request form next week. To date we have sent over 250 names, addresses and amounts to Vantis and they have managed to verify the balances and generate creditor reference numbers for all but three players. We will post again after getting verification of the next batch of players. Please get on board ASAP by fill out the Payout request form.
The slight glimmer of hope is at the end of the tunnel with this latest news. God willing, we will not be filing a similar story on the third anniversary.
