St. Louis - The former chief executive of BetOnSports pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal racketeering conspiracy, admitting that the Internet company falsely portrayed Web-based gambling as legal and caused customers to lose millions of dollars they'll likely never get back.

Gary Kaplan, the captured founder of online gambling's once largest sports betting outfit BetonSports, could be settling with US authorities for an untold amount of money according to various sources throughout Costa Rica and those close to his case. BetonSports - once publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange - was forced to shut down following indictments of Kaplan, former CEO David Carruthers, and eight others.

Gary Kaplan used to throw lavish parties in Costa Rica and plaster the name of his thriving online gambling company on New York City buses. Now, the 48-year-old founder of BetonSports PLC and the multibillion-dollar industry he helped spawn are in reduced circumstances -- the man on the run, the industry in disarray. Mr. Kaplan is a fugitive from a racketeering conspiracy and fraud indictment filed last year in a St. Louis federal court charging him with heading a criminal enterprise that illegally took in over USD 3.5 billion in wagers since 2001.

New York (Reuters) - British payments processor NETeller Plc will forfeit [[USD]] 136 million but will not be prosecuted for conspiracy under a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. government announced on Wednesday. The agreement is the latest development in a U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling that began a year ago with the arrest of the then-chief executive of BETonSPORTS, David Carruthers.

Washington (Reuters) -- Online gambling operator BETonSPORTS plc. pleaded guilty to U.S. racketeering charges and agreed to cooperate in a case against the company's founder and other co-defendants, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. BETonSPORTS admitted to a "pattern of racketeering acts," including mail and wire fraud, operating an illegal gambling business and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said in a statement.

The founder of the London online gambling firm BetonSports Plc pleaded not guilty on Monday to racketeering and other charges. Gary Stephen Kaplan, who was arrested in March in the Dominican Republic, entered the plea in an appearance before Magistrate Judge Mary Ann Medler of the U.S. District Court.

US law enforcement authorities have turned their attention to tracking down remaining fugitives in their prosecution of Betonsports, the internet gambling company, after the recent arrest of founder Gary Kaplan. Top of the wanted list is Norman Steinberg, Mr Kaplan's alleged business partner. Mr Steinberg, 57, "owned and operated" sports betting websites with Mr Kaplan that Betonsports bought outright in 2004 with money raised in its initial public offering, a justice department indictment says.