Reading the US Government’s response to Bartice King’s motion to amend the conditions of his pretrial release, Bookmakers Review discovered that the founder of Legends Sports knew of being under investigation since at least 2011:
Through some leak of information in the government’s ongoing investigation of the Legends enterprise, defendant Bartice King apparently became aware of the investigation in 2011. The government acknowledges that counsel for defendant Bartice King “engage[d] in communication with the government” in 2011.
And that same year “Luke” King took some precautions:
The government has since learned that defendant Bartice King in 2011 removed valuables from his home in Spring, Texas, in anticipation of an Indictment.
Legends Sports continued to operate as an A+ sportsbook, recommended by Sportsbook Review and the likes, then in March 2013:
Again through some leak of information defendant Bartice King apparently became aware of the presentment of an Indictment in March 2013. Counsel for Bartice King again reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida for information.
Too bad he didn’t copy the same email to players or sent another one to inform them that Legends Sports was about to become a deposit only sportsbook:
Defendant Bartice King apparently obtained his information at some time in February 2013 because in late February 2013 he sent an email to close associates suggesting that they flee the United States to avoid arrest. Several such associates thereafter traveled to Costa Rica.
And while Legends Sports players later had to accept a bailout from WagerWeb to hope to see at least some of their funds, it appears that King and his family will do quite well once the troubles with the US Government will be settled:
He owns two homes in Costa Rica, one is approximately 3000 square feet and the other much larger and located next to the home of the President of Costa Rica. He also owns several properties in Panama, including a condo in or near Trump Tower.
…
Gaining a complete picture of defendant Bartice King’s “available assets” is difficult at best. Defendant Bartice King is reported to hate banks, relying upon people to hold money for him. He is known to have kept large stashes of cash at diverse locations. In fact, he has advised at least one associate to hide cash in storage units in the names of others, placing the cash in items such as old televisions. He is also known to have used numerous corporate accounts in the names of shell corporations formed in Panama, Costa Rica and the Virgin Islands.
Luke” King has been often described on US betting forums as one of the good guys in the offshore betting industry, while the portrait that emerges from the investigation is that of a man obsessed with running a gambling operation that in 2011 knew he was going to be over soon for his online sportsbook, but he did not anticipate that his wife would be arrested in connection with the operation of Legends Sports and the related money laundering.
After the arrest of Serena King, Luke, that until then said he would fight an indictment from offshore, returned to the United States and tried to barter his wife’s release in exchange for his incarceration. That didn’t work, but now that both have been released on bail, the US prosecutors believe the Kings are serious flight risk:
Because his wife has been released on bond conditions, he has no incentive to remain in the United States. He has previously expressed his desire to fight this prosecution from outside the United States.
And last but not least, the US Government believes King’s gambling enterprise is still operating in Costa Rica:
Defendant King has moved his gambling operation to Costa Rica now that the Panamanian operation is under scrutiny.
WagerWeb, the online sportsbook that bailed out Legends Sports customers, states on its About Us page “Established in San Jose, Costa Rica, since 1994”. Bookmakers Review recommend its readers to stay away from WagerWeb as it seems likely that (right or wrong) their name ended on the prosecutor list in the Legends Sports case.
Pierluigi Buccioli
Calculators
