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"I think we'll find out where the Senate stands very shortly," says Garber
AFX reported on some optimism on the U.S. legal situation from the top man at Party Gaming, Mitch Garber, as the week ended.
Quoting Garber, the publication claimed that the indictment against Betonsports and the arrest last weekend of its CEO is unlikely to make any difference to the manner in which the U.S. Senate handles the House of Representatives moves to prohibit rather than regulate online gambling.
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The House of Representatives recently voted for the anti-online gambling Bill HR4411 by a margin of 317 votes to 93, but this does not become law until it is it agreed by vote in the US Senate, and signed into law by the U.S. President.
Coinciding with the House of Representatives vote, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a grand jury blitz from Missouri. Betonsports and its founder Gary Kaplan, together with CEO David Carruthers and other individuals have been charged with conspiracy, fraud, and racketeering through taking sports bets from US residents. Federal officials have also hinted at further action.
However, Garber played down the resultant fear and uncertainty while talking to AFX News. "I don't believe this is going to have an impact on the Senate," he said. "The Senate has been looking at bills by Kyl and Leach for eight years. There have been events such as Betonsports and others before and they have not led to the passing of a bill. I think we'll find out where the Senate stands very shortly," he added.
Garber was keen to point out PartyGaming's business is based around online poker and casino games rather than sportsbetting, which differentiates the company from Betonsports and companies such as SportingBet plc.
"My view of our business has not been changed at all by the indictment of Betonsports which is very consistent with past indictments of companies who operate US sportsbetting operations by telephone or by Internet," he said.
"The position taken by PartyGaming has been to not participate in those types of activities and, therefore, the characteristics of the indictment are, in my view, very different and far removed from what PartyGaming does".
The company also revealed plans to expand into territories outside of the US, including Asia.
"I believe PartyGaming is in the unique position of having the knowledge, capability and scale to move into a number of new territories - territories that have good potential and ones we think may not be open to most of our competitors," Garber said.
"Asia's just one place we're looking to expand into. We have a number of very advanced initiatives in Europe and South America that we're going to pursue over the coming months. This is a focused effort on countries that have a high broadband penetration and where we can legally advertise and market our products."
Later a PartyGaming spokesman confirmed that company managers would not be visiting the USA until the position was clearer.
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