"Wall St. Bets on Gambling on the Web"/ NYT's (Mutual Fund Investing)

Wall St. Bets on Gambling on the Web

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By MATT RICHTEL
Published: December 25, 2005



Blue-chip investment houses like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity now hold hundreds of millions of dollars in shares of online casinos and betting parlors, which are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in places like Costa Rica or Gibraltar.

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Millions of Americans use the Internet to play games like poker, blackjack and roulette, or to place wagers on sporting events. Online casinos advertise in magazines and on cable television while filling big billboards in Times Square and other places where crowds congregate. Celebrities like Jesse Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota, hawk their wares.

Representative Bob Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, an opponent of gambling, said that the federal government had essentially given up enforcing laws against offshore casinos. He noted, for example, that casino operators now travel freely within the United States, gathering at trade conventions even though, he said, prosecutors would be within their rights to arrest and bring charges against them.

He said that the involvement of investment firms could be part of a pattern of laws being flouted.

"It's very bad, and the Congress ought to investigate it," Mr. Goodlatte said, adding that it may turn out that the investment houses are knowingly supporting and promoting illegal enterprises.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/business/25gamble.html?hp&ex=1135573200&en=950fdcd67f652e1b&ei=5094&partner=homepage