Sportingbet-Paradise Poker Exec Detained in USA

Sportingbet non-executive chairman Peter Dicks was detained at JFK Airport, New York, on Thursday, September 7 during a routine customs check that revealed the Dicks had an outstanding warrant by the State of Louisiana. Dicks was on his way to a board meeting at Standard Microsystems, a publicly traded company, where he serves as a director.

Dicks is charged with violating Louisiana state gaming laws in connection with his role at Sportingbet, said Senior Trooper Dwight Robinette, a spokesman for the Louisiana State Police. The state police regulate gaming operations in Louisiana.

Sportingbet PLC, the London-based Web bookmaker that owns Paradise Poker, made an announcement confirming Dicks detention in a Regulatory News Service statement to the London Exchange yesterday September 7, after requesting immediate temporary suspension of its shares.

Dicks, 64, is the second manager of a U.K. Internet sports-betting company to be held by the USA. In July, David Carruthers, former chief executive officer of Betonsports Plc, was arrested. Like Carruthers, Dicks is also a British citizen.

Following Carruthers arrest, a 22-count indictment was served on BetonSports alleging various charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, including breaches of the 1961 Wire Act. The Wire Act explicitly forbids businesses from using a wire communication facility to assist in placing bets on 'any sporting event or contest'.

SportingBet generates around half of its revenues from US sports betting.

A New York State judge declined to allow Dicks bail late Thursday evening. So Peter Nieman, lawyer for Dicks, will ask a New York Supreme Court justice to release his client on bail today, Friday September 8. Dicks remains in custody awaiting the outcome of today.s bail hearing. "This is far from an ordinary extradition case,'' said Neiman, a former U.S. prosecutor now with the Washington law firm of WilmerHale. ''He [Dicks] is not the type of person who would flee. This is not some mobster who has connections to the crime world. This is a highly reputable businessman from the United Kingdom.''

A separate hearing has been set at New York City Criminal Court on September 14 to decide whether Dicks should be extradited to Louisiana. A spokesperson for the Louisiana state police said earlier that the state would seek to bring Dicks to the state to stand trial.

The spokesperson alluded to additional arrests warrants against other Sportingbet principals, but did not reveal whether other gaming firms had been targeted. SportingBet founder Mark Blandford has traveled to and from the United States after the warrants were first issued without incident. Nigel Payne, who is due to leave Sportingbet in the coming months, owns property in Miami-Dade County and is likely to return back to the United States and fight the charges.

State authorities may find it difficult to pursue charges against Dicks, said attorney Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who advises online casinos and poker rooms. Courts have ruled state law can't be applied to Internet transactions because such activity falls under the pre-empting Commerce Clause of the Constitution, Walters said.

More information on Dicks will be forthcoming after the bail hearing today.