David Carruthers, 48, was travelling from Britain to Costa Rica when he was detained by federal authorities at Fort Worth airport in Dallas, where he was due to change planes. During a hearing in a Fort Worth Federal District Court Carruthers was charged with racketeering conspiracy, principally for accepting bets on US sports.

BetOnSports (BoS) is an online gaming company that operates an online poker room and online casino alongside its online sports betting operations. Publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange but with a customer base that is 80 percent US based, BoS was seen as a good example of the investment opportunities offered by the online gaming industry. However since the arrest of Mr Carruthers shares in the company have fallen by 16.6 percent.

Along with Mr Carruthers the US government has filed charges against a further ten people involved with BoS and with a number of Florida based marketing companies.

The arrest has been seen as a broadside against the online gaming industry, with the purpose of sending out a message to others in that line of business. Carruthers was one of the most outspoken of all proponents of online gambling, regularly making trips to the US to campaign for its legalisation, and often taking out full page adverts in American newspapers to that end. He appears to have been targeted because of that boldness.

There is however some debate over whether or not the US will be successful in their prosecution of Mr Carruthers, as he is not a US citizen.

Needless to say the industry will be watching the proceedings with a keen eye, and business representatives from other offshore online gambling firms will be giving the US a wide berth until they can be sure they won’t be arrested. That, however, may be a long way off.