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Thursday, October 12, 2000
A Costa Rican sportsbook that falsely claimed its
customers' betting
accounts were insured by Lloyd's of London has
failed in an attempt to
become licensed in Malta, the **** Watchdog has
learned exclusively.
In addition, Internet and telephone sportsbook
NASA Sports
International, which had previously gained a
betting license in the
United Kingdom, may have that U.K. license
revoked, the Watchdog has
also learned.
NASA Sports International recently submitted an
application to the
Maltese government for a Malta betting license,
according to Joseph V.
Banner, a spokesman for the Malta Financial
Services Centre (MFSC),
which determines who gets licensed.
The MFSC is comparable to America's Securities
and Exchange Commission
(SEC), he said.
During a routine background investigation of NASA
Sports International,
the MFSC was alarmed to learn that NASA had
falsely claimed on its Web
site and in magazine ads that Lloyd's of London
insured the betting
accounts of NASA's customers, and that Lloyd's
had sued NASA over the
false claims, Banner said.
The MFSC also was alarmed to learn that NASA
Sports International last
year refused to pay a customer who had won nearly
half a million
dollars, Banner said.
Realizing that NASA was going to have its
application for a Malta
betting license rejected, Banner said he told the
bookmaker not to
bother going through with the process.
"I called NASA and strongly advised them that it
would probably be in
their best interests to withdraw their
application for a Malta betting
license," Banner told the Watchdog. "They have
withdrawn their
application."
As part of its background check of NASA Sports
International, the MFSC
contacted U.K. regulators, Banner said.
"NASA applied for a Malta betting license on the
basis that they
already
had a betting license from the U.K.," Banner
said. "After we
investigated NASA, we couldn't understand how
they got a U.K. license."
The U.K., it turns out, did not investigate NASA
as thoroughly as Malta
did, according to Warwick Bartlett, a spokesman
for the regulatory
agency that grants betting licenses in the U.K.
"Some people who shouldn't have been licensed
were," Bartlett told the
Watchdog. "Apparently, through a front, NASA
Sports International was
able to obtain a bookmaker's permit in the U.K."
The U.K. was unaware of NASA's problems when it
granted NASA a betting
license, Bartlett said. The license may be
revoked, he said.
In addition to being licensed in the country in
which it is located, a
sportsbook will sometimes seek to be licensed in
another country as
well.
The reason is to enhance the sportsbook's
prestige and credibility, and
sometimes it's a precursor to the sportsbook
opening a branch office in
that country.
Some countries vigorously screen the sports books
that apply for
betting
licenses, while other countries do little or no
screening.
NASA Sports International also holds betting
licenses from Costa Rica
and Russia, and has a new branch office in the
U.K.
NASA Sports International, located in San Jose,
the capital and largest
city in Costa Rica, is owned and operated by Gary
Kaplan, a former
street bookie from Brooklyn, N.Y., who uses the
ridiculous alias "Greg
Champion."
NASA is also known by its Web site address,
betonsports.com.
Kaplan admits that NASA Sports International did
not pay a customer
$435,000 in winnings, because the customer, a
professional gambler, was
part of a professional betting syndicate, and
NASA doesn't do business
with such syndicates.
Kaplan also maintains that the wagering accounts
of all NASA Sports
International customers are insured by Lloyd's of
London, the famed
British insurer, even though Lloyd's has filed
suit against NASA for
making that false claim.
Since the suit was filed, NASA no longer makes
the bogus claim in its
advertising.
The suit has not yet been settled.
Because of these and other activities, Kaplan is
hated by many and
always travels in Costa Rica surrounded by a
squadron of armed
bodyguards.
Sources within Lloyd's have told the Watchdog
that they have reported
Kaplan to the U.S. Justice Dept. and other
authorities for committing
fraud, and that the Feds are currently
investigating Kaplan and NASA
Sports International, and could issue an arrest
warrant at any time for
Kaplan and his American employees (an untalented
online writer and New
York paralegal named Chris "Sting" Costigan
recently moved to Costa
Rica
to work in the NASA marketing department).
For all these reasons, it's obvious NASA is a
sorry mix of deceit and
thievery.
If you've got money there, pull it out
immediately!
If you're planning to send some, don't!.....