Firepay parent in discussions with NY enforcement officials

[jetset]

OPTIMAL TO HOLD DEPOSITS FROM ONLINE GAMBLING

Warrants of Seizure for millions issued by US Attorney's office

Judging by a press release from the listed Optimal Group Inc. this week it appears that the parent company for processors like FirePay has been under pressure from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York relating to its ongoing investigation of the U.S. Internet gambling industry.

The company has initiated discussions with the U.S. Attorney's Office and is in the process of responding to a "voluntary request" for information issued by the authorities, the release informs interested parties.

Optimal Group has received a copy of warrants of seizure issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office against funds of certain payment processors on deposit with two U.S. banks. These funds include monies on deposit to the credit of Optimal affiliates, namely, approximately $4.2 million that FirePay Limited has on deposit in a reserve account and approximately $15 million that Optimal Payments has on deposit in a money market account.

Through counsel, Optimal has been assured by the U.S. Attorney's Office that the issue of the warrants does not impact in any way upon its discussions with the enforcement officials, or upon any eventual outcome of those discussions. What that means is not clear from the release.

Optimal Group Inc. is a payments company with operations primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. Through wholly-owned subsidiary Optimal Payments, the group processes credit card payments for Internet businesses, mail-order/telephone-order and retail point-of-sale merchants, and process electronic checks and direct debits online and by phone.

[Mousey]

Well, let's see.... who'll be next? Any bets? (Whoops! Can't do that! That's illegal!!)

C2P?
ECOcard?

I hope someone takes the time to remind the US DoJ that online gambling is completely legal in most civilized countries, and that citizens and businesses in these countries don't owe the DoJ the time of day, much less 'information' about gambling transactions!!

Grrrr..... I'm getting pissed off again...

Let's remember this, folks... Our taxes should go down. The DoJ is successfully extorting millions and millions from the online gambling industry, why would the gov't need citizens' taxes...

[Mousey]

Citadel, FirePay asset seizures pay out for the DOJ

LINKY to article

DOJ approaches climax with UIGEA in wings

By Burke Hansen in San Francisco → More by this author
Published Sunday 20th May 2007 18:39 GMT
Research library - All papers free to download.


House of Cards The US Department of Justice (DOJ) continued its orgy of online gambling asset seizures this week, issuing seizure warrants for $9.25 mil from Citadel Commerce and $4.2 mil from FirePay.

Both companies are Canadian, and neither is currently taking money from American gamblers. The fact that both companies have already withdrawn from the US market, at least as far as servicing the online gambling world goes, is irrelevant for the DOJ. Criminal statutes of limitations being what they are in the US, people all over the globe could well find themselves in hot water for years with American authorities.

The Citadel funds had originally been frozen late last month at the behest of some of its payment processors, the company had let out then in an unusually brief and uninformative press release, but the DOJ took it one step further this week by formally taking control of the funds in question.

This is the latest in a string of DOJ legal actions against the rather murky payment processing segment of the internet gambling industry, and, if nothing else, it demonstrates a renewed determination on the part of the DOJ to prosecute those connected to the online gambling world in the face of mounting criticism at home. Although two online gambling bills have been introduced in Congress the last few weeks – one by Rep. Barney Frank seeking outright repeal and regulation, and one by Rep. Berkley proposing a year-long study of the industry – the prohibitionist instinct at the DOJ appears to be alive and kicking.

Of course, as anyone who follows the DOJ knows, federal investigations take their sweet time producing fruit, and the DOJ typically does not just drop investigations; there could be any number still in the pipeline, ripening up. The busts in Utah last week are just a fragment of far-flung prosecutorial activity that will keep a small army of white-collar law and order types in cozy desk jobs for years to come.

Neteller, Citadel, FirePay, CurrenC – these are in the run up to the UIGEA, which actually takes effect next month.

Even the DOJ knows this: whatever happens then, illicit payment processing will go on, and the cat and mouse game between the processors and the DOJ will continue.®

Burke Hansen, attorney at large, heads a San Francisco law office

[dominique]

I like Burke Hanson. He always makes sense.

[footdr]

I for one would like to know exactly what information DOJ has subpoened, if it includes our account information that would be in breach of the contracts we have with these companies, regarding keeping our information secure, not providing it to anyone.

If they are forced to provide the information I wonder if an attorney could file a Class Action Suit against the companies for providing personal financial information illegally or without consent. Also wonder if the Doj would be overstepping its bounds in forcing access to our financial personal files as they do not know if our funds were gambling related or where in our accounts prior to the laws enactment?

just wondering