Costa Ricans face employment crisis
13th November, 2007
Many people were left unemployed when the US made online gaming illegal. Huge sportsbetting, poker and casino operators were forced to quickly withdraw from the market or face serious consequences from the American justice system.
Almost 200 operators had their license and therefore their base on Costa Rica where the relaxed laws and high number of English speakers made it an ideal place to run their operations.
Gaming companies are heading to places like Malta and Gibraltar - more so now as the UK changed their advertising laws so that only operators with their licenses held in "white listed" countries can advertise in the UK. This means that any operator who is keen to crack the UK and Europe is better off moving their gamign license to one of the approved jurisdictions. Although some are weathering the storm and refusing to move, they are losing serious revenue by doing so.
One of the most famous cases of a gaming operator in Costa Rica, is the BetonSports case where many high level staff have been indicted by the US for taking illegal bets over the phone and internet. They drew attention to themselves by continuing to advertise in the US using flashy and "fraudulant" images.
Employees of BetonSports were paid very well, a telephone operator coudl earn more than a trained lawyer or pilot, so when the office shut down last year, the effect was huge on the local economy. People were able to afford cars, houses, private schools and suddenly they are back to competing for lower paid jobs. They were used to free day care, private healthcare, free gym. They were also promised $20K severance pay, but noone has yet seen this money, now said to total $4million.
The BetonSports head guy Gary Kaplan was arrested last year in the Dominican Republic and was extradicted to the US where he plead guilty to racketeering and money laundering.
