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Casinos> 2007
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Betonsports Fugitive Stung Into A Response By Fintimes
Story
"This man has failed to check his sources and
doesn't have a clue as to what he is speaking about."
Not for the first time, someone who is the subject of a media report
has denied the claims made and accused the publishers of unprofessional
reportage. According to the online gambling information portal Gambling911,
the latest case is BetonSports fugitive Norman Steinberg who is
currently being sought by the US Department of Justice on a series
of charges including money laundering and racketeering linked to
the sportsbetting activities of BetonSports.com.
911 reports that Steinberg, who it claims is presently in Costa
Rica has lashed out at the UK's Financial Times over its reportage
in an article published late Tuesday this week.
In the report the FT apparently wrote that Steinberg once bragged
about his "criminal past" only months before the BetonSports
IPO.
“I’ve been in the can and been pushed around by the
Feds ... and ya know what??...?I’m still ticking,” the
paper claimed he wrote on an online gambling message board under
the alias “Millenium Sportsbook” in September 2004.
Steinberg told 911: "This man [the author of the Financial
Times piece] has failed to check his sources and doesn't have a
clue as to what he is speaking about." Steinberg served a brief
sentence for an offense unrelated to internet gambling, 911 reports.
In its report, the FT claimed:
"In 1999 the Department of Justice charged him [Steinberg]
with using forged prescriptions at the pharmacy he owned in Philadelphia
to procure, with the intent to distribute, more than 500 000 tablets
of prescription drugs, including Xanax, the designer prescription
drug, and Percocet, a drug with opiate-like qualities. Some of the
prescriptions bore the forged signature of a dead doctor."
The Financial Times speculates in its report that Steinberg acted
as an "informant" for the US Justice Department, suggesting
that he was facing a 31-year jail sentence and a $1.75 million (GBP
888 000) fine. However, the US Government lost its key witness in
a doctor who passed away.
The FT article goes on: "Court documents say that Mr Steinberg
assisted in investigations in three other jurisdictions outside
of Pennsylvania, testified before a US grand jury and wore a secret
recording device to gather information.
"The Department of Justice described Mr Steinberg’s
work for them as “dangerous”, adding he feared he would
be murdered and feared for his family’s safety. He eventually
pleaded guilty to a less serious but related crime, of omitting
material information from required pharmacy records, in 2003, escaping
with a $30 000 fine and time already served in jail. The other charges
were dismissed."
The BetonSports saga, and that of a number of defendants still
awaiting trial after some 8 months, has been extensively reported
by InfoPowa. The action was triggered last July when the formerly
leading UK betting group's CEO David Carruthers was arrested by
US authorities whilst in transit from the UK to his Costa Rican
base. Out on a million dollar bail, Carruthers, together with 11
other defendants, still awaits trial. The British executive is confined
to the city limits of St Louis and required to wear an electronic
tracking device.
Norman Steinberg, according to 911 is free to move around as he
pleases in Costa Rica because he has naturalised citizenship there
and due to his marriage to a local Costa Rican lawyer.
Mr. Steinberg, through his representatives, told 911 that he refuted
the Financial Times report late Wednesday night.
"First off, it was no secret that I was indicted in 1999 for
pharmacy related charges, it was [a matter] of public record. Nor
did I ever conceal the fact to anyone that I was indicted, and nor
did I leave the US in 1997 because I felt an indictment was forthcoming.
As for the grossly exaggerated years imprisonment that the reporter
stated, that is not true either. I am not going to discuss the details
of the case at this time as it is over, I have been punished, and
set free by the judge to go on with my life here in Costa Rica."
"Secondly, if I had cooperated with the Justice Department
either with the BOS [BetonSports] case, or any other offshore industry
concern, would they have let me return unconditionally to Costa
Rica with my passport in hand? I would think that it would have
been more convenient for them to have indicted and charged me with
the crime while I was in DOJ custody, and not in July of 2006. Lastly,
if it were true that I was such a tremendous informant why is it
that I have been indicted in the BOS case, along with my son-in-law
who wears a bracelet around his ankle to this day?"
"In speaking with my lawyer, Mr. Durant, he has not authored
any of the answers as were published in this article by Mr. Pimlott
[the FT reporter]. And furthermore, if indeed I was on the lam for
five years, what the hell would I know about any "other"
jurisdictions in the US? The author used his fantasy and speculation
to go out of his way to make a mockery of the DOJ, BOS plc, my lawyer,
and myself with one swift, careless swipe of his pen."
"No one should go any further than the title itself "Criminal
Past of Betonsports co-founder" to say that this man has failed
to check his sources and doesn't have a clue as to what he is speaking
about."
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