Sporting Bet Chairman Peter Dicks Arrested on Illegal Internet Gambling Charges

Sportingbet chairman Peter Dicks was arrested in NYC on Sept. 7th on criminal charges of illegal internet gambling. Dicks is the second British executive of an online sports betting company to be arrested in the past two months. (The other being the arrest of David Carruthers, the CEO of BetOnSports). Dicks' warrant was issued by the state of Louisiana, which is one of only eight states with strong anti-online gambling laws.

While online gambling is legal in the U.K. it is considered illegal in the states by the Department of Justice. The law is not entirely clear on the subject of online gambling and definitive legislation has not yet been passed. U.S. courts have ruled that a crime takes place where the wager is made so authorities can therefore go after foreign companies and their executives. The Department of Justice has cited The Federal Wire Act of 1961 as grounds for prosecuting online gambling firms.

The Wire Act states: 'Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.'

The DoJ claims that the act should then apply to any and all forms of online gambling. U. S. courts have ruled that the act is only applicable to sports betting and not online casinos or poker.

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Sportingbet's Peter Dicks Arrested