Bounty Of The Beanstalk

About Bounty Of The Beanstalk

A former Connecticut funeral director who stole clients’ prepayments to fund his excessive gambling habit will spend the next seven and a half years in state prison.

Philip Pietras, 52, admitted to stealing from more than 170 people, many of whom are senior citizens who sought to limit the emotional and financial burdens placed on their loved ones by prepaying for their funerals. But instead of placing those funds, meant for caskets and burial services, in escrow accounts, Pietras pocketed the money to gamble.

Pietras accepted a plea deal from the state, and prosecutors expect him to enter a guilty plea on Oct. 23 and be formally sentenced on Jan. 22, 2027.

About Bounty Of The Beanstalk

“That was the reason why we joined [online as well as land-based]. But we were a full brick-and-mortar company so it took us some time to prepare for that market. In the beginning, the market share was of course higher because you only had 10 operators and we had a very well-known brand name, but now the market is much bigger and you have operators more specialised in sports betting and things like that. We have dropped down a bit.”

The Netherlands has a government that may be a little heavy handed, a regulator that knows this, and a monopolistic operator that’s trying to do its best for the customer. The industry is an active participant in trying to erradicate the growing illegal market. This week, state-lottery operator Nederlandse Loterij took action against the offshore operator behind the brand Skyhills, ordering them to cease serving Dutch players.

What else can Netherlands gambling operators do to stop the flow of players offshore? Holland Casino is a member of online gambling trade association VNLOK which represents 90% of the licensed operators, and Petra answers simply: “If we knew the answer, we would try to reach it.

What is Bounty Of The Beanstalk?

Arbitrators found against the companies and ordered them to pay millions of dollars toward Laos’ legal costs and expenses.

One tribunal found in 2019 that Lao Holdings had acted in bad faith and ordered it to pay Laos $1.95 million. Another made a similar finding against Sanum and awarded the government $1.78 million.

A third arbitration produced another award worth nearly $1.3 million, taking the amount Laos is seeking to more than $5 million.