ONLINE GAMBLING EXEC'S CASE POSTPONED TO FRIDAY

(546) (28-September-2006)

Louisiana governor Blanco determined to pursue gambling offences extradition agreement against British executive.

It will be another 24 hours before a keenly interested online gambling industry knows the outcome of Louisiana attempts to extradite ex-Sportingbet chairman Peter Dicks on online gambling allegations.

A U.S. criminal court in New York today (Thursday) postponed until Friday 29 September a hearing on the extradition of the former chairman of online bookmaker Sportingbet to Louisiana.

Dicks, who resigned from Sportingbet two weeks ago, was arrested in New York on September 7 whilst on an unrelated business trip to New York from London. The grounds for his arrest and two day detention were a warrant issued in St. Landrey's Parish in the southern state, where state law enforcement police had instituted a random purge against online companies offering gambling facilities to Lousiana residents.

On Sept. 14 New York Governor George Pataki's office refused to honour a request to have Dicks extradited to the state of Louisiana. Dicks was allowed to return home to England but ordered to return for a second extradition hearing on 28 September; he returned to New York earlier this week.

Louisiana authorities want Dicks extradited to the state to face charges related to Internet gambling.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco signed the extradition order Wednesday after consulting with local law enforcement officials and the district attorney. "We must enforce Louisiana laws, which clearly prohibit online gambling. If we don't enforce this law, online gambling would be completely unregulated -- and that is clearly an expansion of gambling and that is unacceptable to the governor," said Blanco's deputy press secretary, Marie Centanni .

"He [Dicks] advised about financial matters," said his lawyer Barry Slotnick . "I don't know if he can tell the difference between a slot machine and a horse race. He's got nothing to do with gambling or gaming. The company that he's on the board of is a holding entity.

Lawyers for Dicks had hoped to halt the extradition process before the hearing. But a spokesman for Ms Blanco said she was still pushing for his extradition as part of efforts to enforce the state's law against online gambling.

Slotnick, lead defence lawyer, acknowledged that Louisiana had "dug in" over recent days, raising the prospect of a courtroom battle over Dicks's fate.

"They are not backing off," he said in an interview. "We're preparing our argument to rebut what Louisiana says."

Louisiana's Police Gaming Enforcement division told the FT this week that arrest warrants had been issued for four Sportingbet representatives, including Dicks, after state police placed a bet with the company.

On Wednesday, Sportingbet, which is publicly listed in London, said it had banned board members from travelling to the US.

Dicks may still be spared prosecution in Louisiana because of legal questions over the legitimacy of the state's extradition request.