Nambling Notes | June 24, 2008

BUSTED A former employee of BetonSports, the defunct Internet sports betting operator, was arrested in Philadelphia Sunday and is accused of participating in an online identity-theft ring.

Patrick Kalonji, 27, is charged with stealing private identity information of approximately 150 people from, among other places, the credit card department of BetonSports where he worked.

According to the United States Justice Department, Mr. Kalonji and an unknown number of co-conspirators used the stolen information -- which included social security numbers, credit card numbers and telephone numbers -- to make fraudulent Internet purchases.

In a prepared statement Monday, Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Mr. Kalonji, a native of the Congo Republic, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Mr. Kalonji was arraigned Monday.

To view a copy of the indictment, click here.

ONGOING AND GOING The United States and the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda have pushed their World Trade Organization settlement deadline to July 11.

"There are still a number of areas that we need to finalise, but in view of the parties, we are making good progress and we just need some more time to see how we could finalise certain key areas and issues," L. Errol Cort, Antigua's finance minister, told Antigua Sun.

The two countries have been in negotiations since late January over the United States' decision to withdraw gambling services from the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

The withdrawal stems from a near five-year dispute between the two nations over the United States' Internet gambling policy.

"Both sides are trying to work something out," Sean M. Spicer, a spokesperson for the trade representative, has told Interactive Gaming News.

The last deadline, June 17, passed without a resolution.

PARTNERS NEW AND FORMER Sportech, a United Kingdom gaming and betting operator, has inked a five-year partnership agreement with 888 Holdings, which allows Sportech to market its pools betting business across 888's 4.9 million customer database.

Sportech plans to push its principal business, The New Football Pools, comprised of the Littlewoods Gaming and Vernons Football Pools brands. New pools is scheduled to go live this August.

Sportech purchased Vernons from Ladbrokes in November 2007 for £51 million, or $102 million. The London-listed company acquired Littlewoods in September 2000 for £162 million, or $324 million.

888, an online operator and software developer in Gibraltar, has also agreed to supply its platform to power Littlewoods' casino and poker properties.

CryptoLogic Ltd., a Dublin-based software developer, previously supplied software to Littlewoods.

In a prepared statement Tuesday, CryptoLogic said it will continue to earn revenue from Littlewoods until September 2008, when the 888 software deal takes effect.

Financial details of the Sportech-888 deal were not disclosed.