Anybody know of a credible criminal lawyer in Costa Rica??

louis · 11-21-07, 03:08 AM

I would try assistance@sportsbookreview.com first, then try a bad publicity campaign, and then the lawyer as a last resort. Who is the sportsbook and what exactly did they do? SBR arbitration and publicity has been successful in the past at getting books to pay up.

SBR Lou · 11-21-07, 03:08 AM

Since its a relatively quiet evening, care to give a few more details on what happened?

rick_213 · 11-21-07, 04:07 AM

To make a long story short, I have won a large sum of money with a suspicious sportsbook based out of costa rica. I have confirmed with others that they have paid out small amounts of money, but since I won in excess of 30K, they could obviously not handle this kind of payout, and have frozen my account.

I really don't know how somebody can get away with this kind of illegal criminal act and am not about to wait around any longer.

I really need an experienced persons advice in this type of situation. I am not quite ready to go public with the information but am looking for a lawyer that I can discuss the situation with.

Does anybody know of anyone reputable to deal with this type of situation?

Thank you for your feedback thus far.

louis · 11-21-07, 04:35 AM

You don't have to publicize it. That was step number two, if step number one did not work. My general advice is to contact assistance@sportsbookreview.com, as this service is free - a lawyer is going to charge you. Also, Bill Doser and the SBR staff have almost certainly received other complaints against this book, and will have more experience dealing with them than a lawyer. There may be a list of people waiting to collect payments from them, and you want to get yourself on this list. Since SBR is based in Costa Rica, they can also help out recommending attourneys if this is what it comes down to. Get SBR management's opinion on this threat not to pay you if you publicize this. These threats are generally just proof that bad publicity works. Its like me telling an employee, if you sue me because I didn't pay you, you are not going to get paid. Well if he sues me, I'll probably cough up the money before going to court regardless of what I said. Anyways, I would start off with out publicizing anything in a post, but let assistance@sportsbookreview.com know what happened.

curious · 11-21-07, 07:59 AM

Originally posted by rick_213

To make a long story short, I have won a large sum of money with a suspicious sportsbook based out of costa rica. I have confirmed with others that they have paid out small amounts of money, but since I won in excess of 30K, they could obviously not handle this kind of payout, and have frozen my account.

I really don't know how somebody can get away with this kind of illegal criminal act and am not about to wait around any longer.

I really need an experienced persons advice in this type of situation. I am not quite ready to go public with the information but am looking for a lawyer that I can discuss the situation with.

Does anybody know of anyone reputable to deal with this type of situation?

Thank you for your feedback thus far.

You should go down there and make this a personal matter.

Rollins08 · 11-21-07, 09:41 AM

Going to Costa Rica with this kind of problem sounds a little dangerous. Also I doubt if a lawyer will have much luck.

bigloser · 11-21-07, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by rick_213

I really don't know how somebody can get away with this kind of illegal criminal act and am not about to wait around any longer.

The first thing you should do is confirm it is infact illegal, in a lot of countries gambling debts are not enforcable.
I know nothing about the law in Costa Rica but in the UK prior to Sept 1st this year if you won from a book you couldnt force payment.
It may feel that it should be illegal - unfortunately that may not be the case.

louis · 11-21-07, 11:33 AM

The laws in Costa Rica are different than the United States. The legal system is even slower than in the States. The lawyer would have to talk a prosecutor into charging the mangagers with the business with stealing, which may be a first for this prosecutor. If the business is not doing well and doesn't have the money, a prosecutor is not going to charge the managers, unless the managers or owners are pocketing the money themselves. Something like this would result in a two year investigation by the Costa Rican prosecutors office.

You are much better going with arbitration. SBR is one place to get that arbitration. There are others, such as places where this book advertises. I personally recommend assistance@sportsbookreview.com because I have seen a record of success using this service. This book most likely owes a lot of money. The question is who is going to get paid first? Can a payment plan be set up?

Criminal law in Costa Rica is a lot different than in the U.S. The defendent has a very long list of rights, much longer than in the U.S., and some rights we have in the U.S. such as the right to a jury trial, and speedy trial, don't exist in Costa Rica. Some crimes that are dealt with harshly here in the U.S., such as prostitution are not even illegal in Costa Rica.

BigBollocks · 11-21-07, 11:44 AM

He needs to get Roberto on his side if he plans on going down there personally. It never hurts to have all the influential man-power one can get...

rick_213 · 11-21-07, 02:22 PM

Who is Roberto?? I am considering going down there in person.

Scorpion · 11-21-07, 02:26 PM

Try to hire 2 bodyguards in CR before you go there, it would be cheaper than hiring them here, pay for their flight, and taking them with you!

Ira Wilton · 11-21-07, 04:34 PM

Iz it a sportzbook from the EZ Sports group?

Shark79 · 11-21-07, 06:23 PM

QRJ Abogados .. is a good option ... however, not sure if they have ever done sportbook process .. but I can assure you they will do the proper steps to get you where you want to be.