the rest of the article written by STING:
ACCORDING TO EXPERT FAMILIAR WITH CURACAO GOVERNMENT ? THEIR ASSISTANCE IN ACES GOLD MATTER IS KEY TO GETTING PEOPLE PAID
Sting
In an exclusive interview with someone who has at one time had close ties with the Curacao government, the island nation is KEY to help those stiffed by Aces Gold/Sports Market get ALL of their monies back. When a casino or sportsbook sets up shop in Curacao, they MUST place all post up monies in escrow and if not, this is considered FRAUD and can be dealt with swiftly.
Do not think for a moment that Mr. Charlie Therwhanger; wife Debroah and their UCLA attending daughter are going to come out of this smelling like roses. According to the individual we interviewed, who wished to remain anonymous, Therwhanger?s biggest fear right is his preoccupation with US law enforcement officials who in recent months since the September 11 attacks, have gone after those they suspect of using offshore banking accounts for ?suspicious? activities. Sources close to the Prescription suggest there will be paper trails that lead from Therwhanger?s banking accounts which MUST be scrutinized with absolute conviction.
What can be done to see to it that Therwhanger and company are brought to justice and that all players receive ? at the very least ? their post up monies back?
?These players MUST pursue the FRUAD issue with the Curacao government,? insists our source, ?Once this takes shape, I have little doubt Charlie will be indicted down there (in Curacao) and THAT will open the floodgates.?
According to this source, someone who at one time played a pivotal role in jumpstarting the offshore gaming industry, post up monies stolen from player?s accounts ? and make no mistake about it, this money was STOLEN, can be tied in with tax evasion among other unlawful activities.
Forget the Curacao Bankruptcy Court ? all players are encouraged to contact the Curacao Department of Justice at 0-11-5-999-463-4111 and let the government know you have been ROBBED by this man!!!!!!!!! The Dutch are among the most stringent when it comes to enforcement of justice. Back in November of this past year, the ?silent? owner of Wall Street Superbook was extradited from Curacao to the Netherlands where he is expected to face a stiff sentence for alleged money laundering.
?Curacao is key to all of this,? said the source, ?They MUST protect the integrity of their country.?
According to one local paper on the island, Aces Gold operated under one of the 25 officially licensed companies active in Cura?ao. The government has no control over the ?sub-betting providers? and doesn?t receive payment from them. The justice department is now seeking venues to change the law as to allow the government to control these sub-betting providers. Currently the license holders are supposed to exercise the controls on the sub-betting providers but the department doesn?t even know their names, not to mention if they have a record and whether or not they are operating in good faith.
Yet, according to our expert, the same laws apply to the sub licensee which also apply to the master license when it comes to POST UP MONIES.
?Sublicensees must maintain their monies in an escrow account as well and if the government has no control of or idea who these sublicensees are than the MASTER LICENSEE must be held accountable,? our source explained.
Our source discussed further how an indictment in Curacao could help to bring Therwhanger to justice in the States.
?Once he is indicted in Curacao, that island nation will then report all information on Charlie to US government officials in an effort to have him face justice in a Dutch Court of Law.?
Furthermore, the US government will have no other choice but to review Therwhanger?s banking activities offshore.
?Once the Curacao government subpoenas all Charlie?s records from the US government, they will be able to find out where all the money (post up from Aces Gold/Sports Market) has gone,? explained our expert.
And where has at least a portion of the money ended up? According to our source, Therwhanger conducted much of his banking, both business and personal, in Curacao banks and two institutions located on the island of St. Kitts/Nevis.
?They (Charlie and his wife) did move their merchant account from the Bank of Nevis to St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank,? disclosed our source, ?But they also had personal accounts in the Bank of Nevis and were sending close to $300,000 a month to their daughter who is attending UCLA.?
While the St. Kitts government may not be inclined to act on their own, should the Dutch Antilles government have US law enforcement officials subpoena Therwhanger?s records, St. Kitts and Nevis will ?open up? and be able to track all monies passing through the former sportsbook owner?s banking accounts.
At least one player we have spoken to is already pursuing actions with the St. Kitts and Nevis government through tight connections he has with legal experts on that island.
?I would not want to be in Charlie?s shoes,? stated our source, ?He had runners in the States and it can be shown he was engaged in unlawful activities both here (in the US) and in Curacao, including money laundering. Curacao can do more damage than anyone can possibly imagine. It is just a matter of players putting pressure on the Dutch Antilles government to take action in this matter.?
Therwhanger, whose last known residence is 4902 78th St. Lubbock, TX.. also has a wife whose assets can be traced to an organization called TNT Racing. She is listed as living in Lubbock, Texas.
Other family members have had recent run ins with the law as well according to the local Lubbock newspaper, Pecos Enterprise.
The Associated Press reported that an A. L. Therwhanger, 51, and his son Eugene, 36, now stand accused of stealing more than 10,000 barrels of oil worth more than $59,000 in a crime that seems to be a throwback to times long past.
For an oil well that wasn't receiving enough electricity to operate, records showed that A.L. Therwhanger's derrick was pumping out seemingly unprecedented amounts of crude.
So much oil was coming from the sometimes dormant well, that it drew the attention of the Texas Railroad Commission. After months of covert surveillance, investigators finally learned the shocking secret of the profitable well ? in the middle of the night, men were importing oil stolen from an EOTT Oil Company well near Cedar Lake.
"This was a bizarre case," said Gaines County Sheriff Jon Key. "They were basically taking oil from one company's well and selling it as their own. We haven't seen anything like that....well, I'm not sure I ever have seen anything like that."
Both Therwhangers, longtime oilmen in Seminole, surrendered to authorities. Key said further indictments could be filed soon.
Other oilmen near the town, nearly 70 miles southwest of Lubbock, said they had long suspected that the Therwhangers' well was a fraud.
"It didn't surprise anybody," said Gregory Williams, who owns several oil wells in Gaines County. "That well wasn't operating often enough to be producing that kind of oil."
In May, the Texas Railroad Commission discovered during a routine inspection that the Therwhangers' well hadn't been operating for months. Yet, records showed that the well had pumped nearly 10,000 barrels of oil over the past two years.
Key says a third suspect, who worked for EOTT Oil company, was helping drive the stolen tankers of oil to the Therwhangers' well in the middle of the night.
"This had been going on for over a year," Key said. "They had everything worked out and were pretty smooth operators."
Of course, in recent days the alleged scam was paying smaller dividends. In 1996, the Therwhangers sold oil for just over $20 a barrel. The last barrels they sold this year went for under $11.
The pair is believed to be brother and nephew, respectively, of the former Aces Gold/Sports Market owner.
Some Aces Gold victims have suggested to the Prescription that they intend to contact local Lubbock, Texas newspapers and expose both Charlie and his wife, Deborah, for their activities surrounding the now defunct sportsbook.
While many would like to see Charlie Therwhanger brought to justice, others JUST want to see their post up monies returned and hopefully their winnings as well.
Our expert suggests there is hope for anyone who used a credit card to deposit and withdraw monies from Aces Gold ? EVEN OVER THE PAST YEAR.
?A lot of people don?t realize this but they CAN charge back their credit cards up to 6 months with only a minimal amount of hassle,? explained our expert, ?All they have to do is tell the credit card company one of two things: Either they did not make the charges (i.e. Fraud) or the party running the business did not fulfill their end of the market.?
Some suggest the ?charging back? of credit cards could reduce the total debt owed by Aces Gold/Sports Market some couple million dollars from the estimated $12.5 million believed to be outstanding.
?The complaint will be sent to Charlie?s merchant bank,? our expert continued, ?Since Charlie is assumed not to be there anymore to sign off on anything, the customer (player) will win this matter instantly.?
And while chargebacks generally are permitted no more than 6 months from the date of purchase, in the event of FRAUD, a one year time period is often assessed.
The vast majority of Aces Gold/Sports Market players are believed to have transferred funds via bank wire; Western Union; NETeller; credit cards; and Fed Ex while there is evidence to show the company also maintained a steady credit customer base.
