We have reports that players from beleaguered and bankrupt sportsbook giant BETonSPORTS are begin contacted again. This time the email comes from Vantis, a forensic accounting firm in England that has been appointed receiver and liquidator of the now defunct sportsbook. We were given an advance copy of this email yesterday and have been working with Vantis since that time to clear up some of the inevitable questions..<\/p>\n
The highlights of the letter provide insights into several of the questions that we have been getting from players every day for the last 22 months; \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How much are we going to get?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When can we expect to get a payout?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The answers two these two questions are more bad news and not what any of us want to hear. The email states, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we do not anticipate that any distribution to creditors will be any more than a few cents in the dollar.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Vantis also states that, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we do not anticipate reporting to you further until December 2008.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n
This is most distressing news and we have already heard from several angry players who have written in to let us know that this is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ripoff\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where did all of the money go?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We could not agree more! Why are there not enough funds to pay back the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s previous depositors?<\/p>\n
We did contact Vantis, and were informed that BETonSPORTS owes out double what we had been told from the exiting regime when the book was shut down. In addition, it would stand to reason that since less than 20% of the players who were owed money by BETonSPORTS replied and filed claims, that there would be plenty of money to satisfy their outstanding balances. However, it turns out that the company has only several million to settle outstanding claims; they fall over $25 million short of their obligations. <\/p>\n
Vantis also mentions in their email that they are still actively seeking funds owed to the sportsbook from \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsubstantial debtors based in various jurisdictions around the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. They continue by letting players know that they \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmay now have to commence legal proceedings in those jurisdictions\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. This could force this entire saga to continue for many more months; In fact, until the end of 2008 . . . at best. The last sentence of Vanits\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 email reads, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As and when we have anything significant to report to you, we will write further, if not, we do not anticipate reporting to you further until December 2008.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d OMG!<\/p>\n
We asked the liquidators if they would consider making partial initial payments to players, while they continue to hunt for more player funds around the globe. We received no answer to this request. We also asked if there would be a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdrop dead date\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, where Vantis would stop looking for more money and stop looking for more BETonSPORTs players and untimately, make payouts. Again, no response. Vantis does appear to be working diligently to finalize these proceedings, but the end result will most certianly fall short of everyone’s expectations.<\/p>\n
For those without email, Vantis may finally be ready to make contact. They have asked the High Court of Antigua for permission to contact those players by \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmail & public advertisement\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. However, we are not sure that these players will want the information that their online counterparts have received\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..<\/p>\n
So, this whole mess will be more than two years old in July and still nothing has been resolved. For a company that at one time was worth nearly a quarter of a billion dollars and had over 15 million in player deposits, one has to wonder where all of the money went. David Carruthers is still under house arrest, Gary Kaplan is still sitting in jail and players still have no money. No one has been brought to trial and this situation certainly has no justice. There are still plenty of sportsbooks operating around the world taking bets from US players. All the US government did in this situation was aid BOS in ripping off tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n
I think that both the BOS players and stock holders would agree.<\/p>\n