Pokerstars, Absolutepoker, Ub and Fulltilt Seized By Doj

[lnspin]

Seems like its ending, all 4 room have been seized by the US DOJ

http://twitter.com/#!/CNBC

http://www.recentpoker.com/news/poke...bi-seized.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/doj...MW_latest_news



http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pres...dictmentpr.pdf

[lnspin]

Sorry Should have been in the poker section, mod please move

[dominique]

This is HUGE and may well extend beyond poker... depending on whether other places also used these processors.

[tat00]

i can still play there i just logged in

[dominique]

This only happened like half an hour ago, you'll be kicked off soon... get your money out.

Domains take time to propagate around the world, use your chance to withdraw while you still can.

[Nate]

The United States also filed a civil money laundering and in rem forfeiture complaint (the "Civil Complaint") against the Poker Companies, their assets, and the assets of several payment processors for the Poker Companies.

Is this a 'Heads Up' and something to be concerned about for those using payment processors? Does 'Payment Processors' refer to the likes of MB, Netteller...et al ?

Nate

Edited to Add: As alleged in the Indictment, to accomplish their fraud, the Poker Companies worked with an array of highly compensated "payment processors" – including defendants RYAN LANG, IRA RUBIN, BRADLEY FRANZEN, and CHAD ELIE – who obtained accounts at U. S. banks for the Poker Companies.

[lots0]

...in a 51-page indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan, federal prosecutors allege that PokerStars, Fullt Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, “used fraudulent methods to avoid restrictions and to receive billions of dollars from United States residents who gambled.” The indictment largely focuses on financial transactions, claiming the online poker companies violated a 2006 law (UGIEA) that Congress passed to cut off the flow of cash to online gambling companies, saying the firms “deceived or directed others to deceive United States banks and financial institutions into processing billions of dollars in payments.”

http://blogs.forbes.com/nathanvardi/...rtner=yahootix

Just a note here, the title of this thread is a little misleading.

They (the poker rooms) have not been seized, they are outside US Justice Dept. Control. (correction the DOJ is trying to seize the domain names)
However... This may have something to to do with the disappearance of E-check.

[spiderlegz]

Wonder how it will effect non US accounts? LOL at BWIN.PARTY DIGITAL E up 11% today.

Edit: seems to work normal for non US players and cashouts are apparently working (at least MB and Neteller).

[jstrike]

Sure enough, pokerstars in the US now resolves to 50.17.223.71 ...a page with DOJ seals and some heavy-sounding warnings on it.

The Feds seized the domain name. Oddly, or not, if you access pokerstars' real IP address, 77.87.179.116, from a server in the states, it redirects to the DOJ. Possibly because PS' front page itself rewrites the header from the numerical IP address to 'pokerstars.com'. I wonder if this has any effect at all on using the download client from the US. Maybe not?

[lnspin]

http://blogs.forbes.com/nathanvardi/...rtner=yahootix

Just a note here, the title of this thread is a little misleading.

They (the poker rooms) have not been seized, they are outside US Justice Dept. Control.

However... This may have something to to do with the disappearance of E-check.

I agree should have titled it a little better. But The DOJ has taken control of the domain names.