International: Second Sportingbet employee free to leave Turkey

Monday, the Istanbul Court of Justice lifted travel restrictions on a Sportingbet PLC employee Turkish authorities had detained since May. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company announced that the man has presented his defense to the court and is now free to return to the U.K.

The unidentified man is one of two Sportingbet U.K. managers Turkish authorities arrested in connection with illegal online gambling during the 2008 Spring Bank Holiday. Sportingbet said neither employee was in Turkey on company business but, as Turkish nationals, were vacationing in their home country.

In July, the court allowed one employee to leave Turkey. It did not, however, release the second on bail until October, even then imposing a travel ban on the man and instructing officials to withhold his passport.

The pair was part of a larger group of 39 individuals whom Turkish police arrested for their associations to Sportingbet. Of those detained, 11 were released immediately. The remaining 28 were charged with establishing a criminal organization, being intermediaries in betting and gambling, and money laundering.

The arrests came after Turkish officials accused Sportingbet’s Turkish subsidiary, Superbahis.com, of violating the country's anti-gambling laws. The Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Board alleged that the online sports book had illegally taken money from some 600,000 Turkish citizens and transferred it to the U.K. The board said the money was then deposited into Swiss bank accounts or used to finance further illegal-gambling operations on Turkish soil.

Sportingbet, which also owns ParadisePoker.com, has continued to take bets from Turkish citizens, saying that because it does not maintain a physical presence in Turkey it has not violated the country’s laws. Yet the company has reduced its presence in the country’s market. According to a recent trading update, Sportingbet’s net gaming revenues from Turkey have fallen 42 percent since last year.

In releasing both employees Turkish courts may be responding to the company’s show of good faith. However, one Sportingbet representative was careful to stress that the legal process is not over.

“It’s good news,” the representative said. “[The second employee] can come back to the U.K. The tedious thing, though, is that the next judgment isn’t until 2010.”

- Phill Provance
phill.provance@gamblingplanet.org

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