UPDATED -- NETeller founders charged with money laundering 16 January 2007. http://casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=163572 NETeller founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre were arrested Monday are being charged with laundering billions of dollars of Internet gambling proceeds, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia announced today. "Stephen Eric Lawrence and JOHN DAVID Lefebvre knew when they took their company public that its activities, as well as those of the internet gambling companies it assisted, were illegal in the United States," Garcia said. "Blatant violations of U.S. law are not a mere 'risk' to be disclosed to prospective investors. Criminal prosecutions related to online gambling will be pursued even in cases where assets and defendants are positioned outside of the United States." NETeller is a popular third-party payment processor used by many to transfer money into online gaming accounts. The Isle of Man-based company processes more than $7 billion in financial transactions annually according to the company's interim report for 2006.
And again and again: Yup and awaiting me on my return, just after the radio announcements of the arrests was a notice from Neteller and a couple of sites that they no longer will process US players transactions. The boys, Canadian, should have stayed out of the US. I cleaned out all my accounts after the initial "LAW" passage, waited and saw that the UBT..Bet21's were going ahead and that Neteller wasn't going to be intimidated so I jumped back in just in time for this. UBT gives a number of other options, but usually your withdrawls are through your depositor. So, I'll wait and see. Interesting that part of the accusation against Neteller was for MONEY LAUNDERING. Like to see how they make that stick.
This sucks big time! Hard to believe that online BJT may not be available to US citizens for very long without the ability to fund accounts through Neteller. Player pool will now start to shrink along with the prize pool. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH !:flame: :flame: :flame:
Citadel just got an email from UB saying that Citadel is no longer processing payments from US players - another funding route closed to us
another article <<Britain's NETeller closed its U.S. Internet gambling services on Thursday, wiping out over 65 percent of its business, after two of its founders were arrested there this week.>> http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...RUKOC_0_US-NETELLER-IMPACT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
Awesome Brilliant timing as a HUGE number of US citizens will have made their largest deposits of the year in order to wager on the NFL Playoffs and Superbowl. So now our outstanding government, in an attempt to 'protect us from losing all our money', has now allowed millions of our dollars to be stuck in cyberspace and possibly get lost anyways. Un-effing-real.
hey ace: just set up an account with instadebit. there is no charge to the customer. bet21 takes their action. so, for now, this looks like a way to go, as we keep being pushed into a painted corner. go giants. there will be another day, for some
What happens to money in an account if the withdraw mechanisms are pulled real fast like? Do the vendors have to send checks? bet21 cant get the account bonus done, I would hate to see them have to write checks!
update on instadebit; looks like one can withdraw monies from your instadebit account, just the same as neteller, into your checking account. i have been communicating with them most of the afternoon. there is no charge for their service, it being paid for by the merchant. how long this will last, do not know. next step is to take out monies from bet21 and or deposit monies into it or blackjack21. good luck; there will be another day, for some.
Bunch of hypocrites! Global Payments (GPN) Announces Agreement With 13 U.S. and Canadian Gaming Establishments 01-18-2007 10:42:33 AM Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) announced agreements to provide 13 U.S. and Canadian gaming establishments with its VIP LightSpeed suite of cash access products. These establishments will utilize a number of innovative LightSpeed products including VIP Preferred @dvantage check-cashing services, PlayerCash @dvantage credit and debit card cash advance services, and ATM Cash @dvantage, which permits electronic check transactions at ATMs without casino cage assistance. If it's online financial transactions related to gambling it's money laundering. If it's land based it is simply good business. The powerfull US casino lobby must be popping the champagne right now and smacking their lips over their future in online gaming. :flame: :flame: :flame:
Their gambling divide Here is an editorial excerpt from The Globe and Mail Canada’s national and most influential Newspaper Toronto, Friday, January 19, 2007 The U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling, a crusade that seems to involve arresting law-abiding citizens of other countries and threatening them with long prison terms, continues to claim new victims. The latest are Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, two Canadian businessmen who founded a company called Neteller, which handles payments for online gambling sites. While the U.S. authorities would like to paint the two as criminal masterminds, the fact is that they have broken no laws in either Canada or Britain, where their company is based. Instead, they have run afoul of the hypocritical U.S. desire to restrict gambling on the Internet while allowing it to flourish at home, where it produces billions of dollars in tourism and tax revenue. Neteller, which processed an estimated $7 billion (U.S.) in online payments last year, has become a well-respected entity with common shares that are publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. To the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, however, the company is “a colossal criminal enterprise masquerading as a legitimate business.” The two founders, both former Calgary (Alberta) lawyers who started the company in 1999, were arrested on Monday and charged with conspiring to distribute funds “with the intent to promote illegal gambling.” Mr. Lefebvre was arrested in Malibu. Mr. Lawrence, who lives in the Bahamas, was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They were each released on $5 million in bail. The men, neither of whom is currently an officer or director of the company they founded, are only the latest to be arrested. Last September, U.S. authorities detained the chairman of Sportingbet, a publicly traded online gambling company based in Britain. In July, they arrested the CEO of a similar company, Betonsports. The founder of that company and two executives with a third online gambling firm are considered fugitives from U.S. Justice. The impetus for the arrests was legislation (passed in October) that made online gambling a crime in the United States. Until then, authorities had to rely on a 1961 law that banned “gambling by wire” (the law under which the Betonsports CEO is being held; arrests were rare. Now, executives of online gambling related companies avoid even changing planes in the United States for fear of being arrested. In other words, gambling is not only permitted but encouraged when it takes place at a racetrack, lottery office or casino somewhere in the United States, but becomes a heinous crime when it takes place on the Internet. The absurdity of that position makes a mockery of the law the U.S. authorities seem so eager to enforce.
Instadebit is now closed to US customers....that took all of one day. Good article Arch....sadly this is only the tip of the iceberg when speaking of freedom and liberty in our country... We have gone so far back wards during this administration that I often wonder if everyone has simply gone numb and forgotten all the lives lost in all the past wars fought for freedom. We were attacked by terrorists and sadly they won because now terrorists are the excuse for our liberties being robbed from us on all fronts...we have a "patriot" act the allows my government to monitor my communications ...no court order is needed......they can tap my phone....monitor my email... all w/o the formerly necessary court review and checks and balance system required b4 Patriot act. Is there any wonder why the USA has dropped to such a low position in so many foreign countries minds? This issue is simply a snap shot of how far backwards we have fallen and how self rightiousness can blind good people and allow them to snooze as there rights ar stripped away one by one. Our news this morning was lead by a story of ex military generals all going on record against sending more of our children to die in Iraq...20 plus military experts...presidentially appointed generals (all generals are appointed by the President) going on record that sending more troups was a mistake and usless effort and waste of life..but guess what we are doing??? Yep ... Remember this little anti internet gambling issue was tucked into the back pages of a port security act.... I dont like it when when my government comes into my living room and thru my phone line and my computer to regulate my free time and recreation... Its truely is a double standard.....the type of gambling is legal or it is illegal...depending on who pays off the elected officials.... We here have been seeing this slippery slid away from freedom for some time now..... Why is common sense so uncommon?
Rando21, On many of the issues you just brought up I agree. But I'm not here to discuss politics/policies since this site is for Blackjack Tournaments. Just wanted to say one thing. I'd like to quote something form a TV program. This may not be an exact quote but it is close enough. On last Tuesday's "Boston Legal", Denny Crane (who is a stanch American by any definition of the word) said in the program's classic "balcony scene": IT WORKS, AMERICA WORKS That being said, no problem bringing up points that one feels must be changed. Hell, it's traditional America and is one reason why "IT WORKS". I only ask that we keep this forum for it's intended purpose - blackjack tournaments.
instadebit yes, rando is correct. instadebit lasted a whole day. so, the time spent talking to them and setting up ones' account was just a learning experience. it looks like the paint is creeping ever so close to our standing feet in the corner. there will be another day, for some.
Hard not to become political about a situation that so blatantly affects the tournament gambling community from a purely political angle. its no secret that the amazing hypocrisy and incredibly underhanded tactics of the current administration (including the outgoing Republican congress) has been directly responsible for the present upheaval of our entire online gaming experience. To not reference these injustices in the light of politics is to simply ignore the problem. Quoting lines from fictional TV shows is not the compromise. Look, the worse this situation gets, the more political these discussions will become. I propose that Ken consider putting up a 'Politics' forum here on BJT.com (or other title, like 'Gambling Legislation') to be a place where we can openly discuss these sorts of ideas without people freaking out so much about it. Then other members who refuse to accept the political realities of the current situation can simply choose not to read the threads there, and continue to live on in their blissful ignorance. In starting a whole new forum here (sandwiched between 'Other Games Tournaments' and 'Tournament Strategy & Tournament Teasers,' i expect) I think the same standards of conduct that have begun to be enforced around here lately should still apply, ie feel free to go off on a rant about why you believe XYZ, but without the unnecessary namecalling/etc that leads Ken to bust posts and suspend posters. A new Politics forum would not be an uncensored 'Fight Club' but rather a place for people to be able to debate the political realities that affect blackjack tournaments without people constantly interrupting to say that we shouldn't be doing it. any takers? -hd.
