SPECULATION RAMPANT ON PARTY GAMING U.S. DEAL (Update)

6 June 2008

A billion dollar settlement with the DoJ?


Friday's rumours around a possible settlement between the US Department of Justice and Party Gaming (see previous InfoPowa reports) have continued to inspire extensive speculation in both Internet and print media, although no official confirmation has yet been issued by the London-listed company itself.

The New York Post published an article by Paul Tharp claiming that unidentified sources had revealed that redeeming Party Gaming's pre-UIGEA "crimes" was going to cost the online gambling group a whopping $ 1 billion.

After outlining the nature of the rumours that have sparked the latest speculation, the article quoted "industry sources" on the $1 billion penalty which comes after extensive negotiation between the Department and Party Gaming officials seeking to clean the slate on pre-2006 activities in the USA.

The writer recalls that PartyGaming's husband-and-wife founders, Russ de Leon and Ruth Parisol, earned a $7 billion windfall when they took the company public in London, but could be bankrolling part of the alleged massive settlement to avoid shareholder backlash.

One online-gaming authority, law professor Joseph Kelly at the State University of New York-Buffalo, opined: "They may be paying a huge fine to get this behind them, but it won't get them any closer to online betting here anytime soon."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa