The investors claim they should have been told that the company\’s founder Gary Kaplan had been arrested in the US on gambling charges in 1993 before they bought shares and that the AIM prospectus was inadequate.
Gary Kaplan, who still controls 15% of BetonSports through Boulder Overseas Corporation, was named only as a paid consultant, while his connection with the company was not mentioned.
Evolution Securities, the stockbroker that brought BetonSports to market, said the market authorities were satisfied with the level of disclosure when the company listed two years ago.
In separate news, Richard Ainsworth-Morris, former Chief Financial Officer of BetonSports, claimed the firm still owes him over £100,000 in unpaid fees and share options. Ainsworth-Morris was CFO at the online sportsbook for six months in 2001. He was assigned the task of preparing the firm for floatation in the UK and he was given options, which he said never materialized.
Elsewhere, Pokerstars proposed £1.6 billion floatation is in serious doubt following the recent indictment of David Carruthers. The online poker company has been working over the past few weeks with the investment banks HSBC and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein on a review of its strategic options. A flotation has been widely regarded as the most likely outcome, but one source familiar with the situation said: “They cannot do a float at the moment.”
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