BetOnSports to shut down operations, says source

Online gambling firm BetOnSports, which was incorporated in Britain, is shutting down its operations in Costa Rica, a company official told AFP.

"The bosses just told us that the operations are ceasing tomorrow," said the company official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The report said the BetOnSports' staff of mainly young, bilingual Costa Ricans earned more than recently graduated professionals.

BetOnSports.com is the target of the US government's biggest crackdown on Internet gambling, the AFP report said.

Eleven people were charged on July 17 with illegally taking bets from US residents and failing to pay US taxes on $3.3 billion in wagers from the US, the report further said.

On the same day, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against BetOnSports that prevented the group from accepting wagers from bettors in the US, earlier reports said.

The report further said BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers was arrested in Texas on June 16 and others had been arrested in the case, according to US authorities