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Three largest online poker sites indicted and shut down

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Dox47
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16 Apr 2011, 12:10 am

From The LA Times:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_c ... y-fbi.html

The LA Times wrote:
The founders of the three largest online poker sites were indicted on Friday in what could serve as a death blow to a thriving industry.

Eleven executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and a number of their affiliates were charged with bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan court. Two of the defendants were arrested on Friday morning in Utah and Nevada. Federal agents are searching for the others.

Prosecutors are seeking to immediately shut down the sites and to eventually send the executives to jail and to recover $3 billion from the companies. By Friday afternoon Full Tilt Poker’s site displayed a message explaining that “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.”

The online gambling industry has taken off over the last decade, drawing an estimated 15 million Americans to bet online.

In 2006 Congress passed a law curtailing online gambling. Most of the leading sites found ways to work around the law, but prosecutors allege that in doing so they broke the law.

“These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.

Poker fans took to Twitter in droves, worried about the money in their online gaming accounts, fretting that online poker's days were at an end.

"Well the good news is I think I only had about $300 left on the online poker sites overall," tweeted Jimi Schindler of Madison, Wis. "Maybe I'll see that money?! !?"


I thought this sort of BS was supposed to be on the downswing with Bush out of office; guess I was wrong. What's next, obscenity prosecutions again? Also, note the part I bolded in relation to the current economic conditions; does the feeb really having nothing better to do than f*ck up one section of the economy that seems to be working?


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John_Browning
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16 Apr 2011, 12:36 am

Holder needs some good press coverage since he has a congressional investigation looming over his head from that epic failure he authorized the BATFE to pull.


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Orwell
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16 Apr 2011, 12:54 am

A schoolmate of mine was doing extremely well in poker tournaments recently. He had won many thousands of dollars, some of which he was going to send back to his mother to help her make house payments. Now the assets on those poker sites have been frozen, and his family may lose their home.

Outlawing these sorts of "immoral" activities will always fail, and only serves to hurt people. By all means, regulate and tax, but this sort of ban and seizure of assets is a terrible move. And it's rather hypocritical, considering the state-sponsored gambling that is perfectly legal. There is no possible justification for a state monopoly in casinos.


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Jacoby
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16 Apr 2011, 1:01 am

I'm so glad our tax money is being spent going after online poker and Barry Bonds. Not like we're in a recession, 3 wars, and 14 trillion in debt.



Vigilans
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16 Apr 2011, 1:27 am

Don't they have bigger fish to fry? I don't care for gambling, or poker, but this seems to be a rather unnecessary move.


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John_Browning
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16 Apr 2011, 3:00 am

Vigilans wrote:
Don't they have bigger fish to fry? I don't care for gambling, or poker, but this seems to be a rather unnecessary move.

It's all about show. They are just looking to repair their image as fast as possible before the congressional inquiries without having to do anything.


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Tequila
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16 Apr 2011, 3:27 am

Why don't they just move abroad? A couple of them are based in Gibraltar, for example. I've passed their offices.



Sallamandrina
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16 Apr 2011, 4:36 am

I still have access to my Full Tilt account but I'm in Europe.


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KeyMaker
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16 Apr 2011, 4:39 am

Orwell wrote:
A schoolmate of mine was doing extremely well in poker tournaments recently. He had won many thousands of dollars, some of which he was going to send back to his mother to help her make house payments. Now the assets on those poker sites have been frozen, and his family may lose their home.


Why did he leave the money on the gambling site?! Wouldn't it have been more prudent to move it to his bank account?


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Orwell
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16 Apr 2011, 10:15 am

KeyMaker wrote:
Why did he leave the money on the gambling site?! Wouldn't it have been more prudent to move it to his bank account?

He had just won a lot of it in a tournament, and there were more coming up shortly. There was no prior indication that the assets of these sites were going to be seized.


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universeofone
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16 Apr 2011, 10:30 am

Goodbye, special interest :(



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16 Apr 2011, 2:02 pm

RT @dhh

Quote:
Why hasn't the FBI sized the domains of Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan for allowing their clients to gamble on derivatives?


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16 Apr 2011, 8:02 pm

skafather84 wrote:
RT @dhh
Quote:
Why hasn't the FBI sized the domains of Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan for allowing their clients to gamble on derivatives?

Obama's chief of staff has a financial stake in JP Morgan so they will get to rob their clients blind and do so openly.


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Dox47
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16 Apr 2011, 10:36 pm

skafather84 wrote:
RT @dhh
Quote:
Why hasn't the FBI sized the domains of Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan for allowing their clients to gamble on derivatives?


The form of gambling called business has never looked kindly on the form of business called gambling; or something to that effect. I can't remember who said it first.


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