Pokerstars, Absolutepoker, Ub and Fulltilt Seized By Doj

[jetset]

Jeez, it's really generous of the DoJ to " allow for real-money play outside of the United States."

Key points from Full Tilt's p.o.v. include:

1) The destruction of the payment processing system in the USA, making for "significant practical and legal impediments to returning funds to players in the immediate future;

2) Consequently, there exists no authorized U.S. payment channel through which to make refunds;

3) Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the governmentin its actions against payment processors;

4) The government has not agreed to permit any of the seized player funds to be returned to the players - so who gets the repatriated funds;

5) Numerous legal and jurisdictional issues that must be considered before poker winnings can be paid out to players throughout the United States.

The statement "While Full Tilt Poker continues to believe that online poker is not illegal under federal law or in 49 states, the indictment and civil forfeiture action filed last Friday require Full Tilt Poker to proceed with caution in this area," perhaps indicates that Full Tilt is gearing up for a fight on jurisdictional (domain) and legality grounds.

 

[Gremmyboy]

Just found this on NineMSN.....

Witness protection likely for Tzvetkoff

One-time Australian internet high-flyer Daniel Tzvetkoff is likely to have entered the FBI's witness protection program and could be housed in a jail facility on the US east coast, a highly-respected former FBI special agent believes.

Tzvetkoff's last known location was a jail in New York where US government prosecutors fought at bail hearings to keep him but, on August 23 last year, he was moved under a veil of secrecy.

It is believed the 28-year-old Gold Coast businessman, once worth $A82 million, has become a star witness for the FBI and prosecutors.

Last week, they charged 11 people - including the founders of the giant PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker internet poker companies - with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offences.

"He's in a lock-up somewhere," said James Wedick, a decorated former FBI special agent who worked with the crime-fighting agency for 34 years and specialised in handling confidential informants and cooperating witnesses.

Tzvetkoff was arrested a year ago in Las Vegas and faces 75 years in US federal prison for allegedly creating a scheme to illegally process more than $US500 million ($A469 million) in transactions between US gamblers and internet gaming websites.

Wedick said if Tzvetkoff had agreed to become a government witness, it would not guarantee his release from custody.

"There's no way they'd let him walk out," he told AAP after examining details of the cases.

It was also unlikely Tzvetkoff would be held in a safe house.

Jails had special wings or floors for prisoners in the witness protection program and these were separate from the general prison population, he said.

"If he's gone into the witness protection program, he is merely in one of the protection wings of the prison," Wedick said.

The FBI and prosecutors from the US Attorney's Southern District of New York office have declined to comment on Tzvetkoff's whereabouts.

Court proceedings in Tzvetkoff's case are held behind closed doors and filings sealed from the public.

"You are going to have to call the US Attorney's office on this," said a FBI spokesman, declining to comment on the Tzvetkoff case.

A call to the US Attorney's office was met with a similar response.

"It's our policy to not comment on ongoing cases and investigations," the spokeswoman said.

A few years ago, Tzvetkoff was touted as one of Australia's smartest and most successful young businessmen after creating Brisbane-based internet payment processing company Intabill.

Tzvetkoff drove Lamborghinis and Ferraris and created headlines when he bought a $A27 million home on the Gold Coast.

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Cheers
Gremmy

 

[Mousey]

Just found this on NineMSN.....

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Cheers
Gremmy

You know... that really, really, pisses me off. He's the biggest thief and crook there is, and he sings like a bird and will get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. He stole from players/processors/casinos/poker rooms -- mark my words, he's going to get away with it.

Yet the casinos and poker rooms are merely carrying on a legitimate business as usual, stealing from no one....

Department of Justice...... HAH!! Their logic is soooooo skewed as to be frightening.

 

[jetset]

The Aussie media are certainly having a field day with Tzvetkoff speculation, perhaps because he operated from Brisbane in his heyday, and I'm sure he sang like a bird after being arrested... but since then there has been a slew of e-processors picked up, all agreeing to assist the DoJ in their plea bargains.

 

[lots0]

So embarrassed to be an American right now...

This entire UGIEA thing, from it's inception has been an example of corrupt government;

The UGIEA was:
* Created in back room, in secret.

* in the middle of the night.

* Authored by three Senators(one convicted of corruption, one resigned because of scandal) and the UGIEA was never even read by any other Senators or Congressmen, until after it was already law.

* The UGIEA was politically attached (using dirty political tricks)to a 'must pass' National Security Bill.

* The UGIEA has been used by the US Government to seize almost 1 Billion Dollars.

* The UGIEA has cost investors in the UK stock market 100's of millions.

As an American, I hang my head in shame over the actions of my government in regards to this UGIEA.

 

[SlotsLover]

Jeez, it's really generous of the DoJ to " allow for real-money play outside of the United States."

Key points from Full Tilt's p.o.v. include:

1) The destruction of the payment processing system in the USA, making for "significant practical and legal impediments to returning funds to players in the immediate future;

2) Consequently, there exists no authorized U.S. payment channel through which to make refunds;

3) Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the governmentin its actions against payment processors;

4) The government has not agreed to permit any of the seized player funds to be returned to the players - so who gets the repatriated funds;

5) Numerous legal and jurisdictional issues that must be considered before poker winnings can be paid out to players throughout the United States.

The statement "While Full Tilt Poker continues to believe that online poker is not illegal under federal law or in 49 states, the indictment and civil forfeiture action filed last Friday require Full Tilt Poker to proceed with caution in this area," perhaps indicates that Full Tilt is gearing up for a fight on jurisdictional (domain) and legality grounds.

Note that PokerStars does not say anything about money being confiscated or that the gov't is not allowing player funds to be repaid.

 

[MJackson]

While I find the UIGEA idiotic and the US governments tactics wasteful, misguided and infringing on freedoms, I think the characterization of any one of these poker rooms as a little girl in a white dress who had her very innocence taken on the walk home from Sunday school is a bit far fetched. They were, by all accounts, at a minimum disguising transactions in a deliberate effort to skirt regulations. That at least is uncontroversial.

The other thing is that it's hard to feel sorry for guys with jets, particularly when they understood perfectly the risks they were taking to hang out in the stratosphere.

So what exactly does this mean?

3) Full Tilt Poker has no accounting of the millions of dollars of player funds that were seized by the governmentin its actions against payment processors;

We hear statements from experts, including the government itself, that no player funds were siezed at all. Now we hear from FullTilt (?) that they were. What exactly does it mean that they had "no accounting". They had no idea what money was in what account? Sounds pretty negligent, and that's being nice. Or does "accounting" in this sense mean that they have no control over funds that were siezed, or which funds specifically were?

Neteller in the end turned out to be honest. They paid everyone every cent. I hope these poker companies turn out to be honest too. Though I can't imagine the temptation would be small to throw their hands up in the air and say "you know what, we're never seeing this market again. You people elected these birdbrains. Get the money back yourselves from the siezed pool that your federal officials are now bathing in."

Actually in the Neteller case I believe repayment was part of the agreement. Hopefully it will be in this case too.

 

[jetset]

Note that PokerStars does not say anything about money being confiscated or that the gov't is not allowing player funds to be repaid.

There's a Pokerstars FAQ here covering their official approach:

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, and assuring that players will be paid and that tournament tickets can be converted into cash and withdrawn.

Absolute Poker/UB is expressing willngness to cooperate in getting players paid, but first wants to complete a review of the situation with its lawyers - a US firm - before participating, according to their current statement on this.

"Accounting" can mean many things imo, for example it could refer to incomplete records because the feds haven't played all their cards yet.

MJackson is of course correct in his comments on innocence, With the billions involved and clear evidence that the enforcement agencies were savaging the online poker bone, it's hard to believe that they were 'the innocent little girl in a white dress'.

They assessed the risks and their perceived chances of reward and went for it, probably knowing full well that somewhere down the line there could be an accounting, but hoping to make a ton of money and perhaps even get legalisation laws through.

 

[pokeraddict]

I don't think AP/UB players will ever see any substantial amount of their deposits. They have cut non US player cashouts down to $250/wk and are not letting US players request them. They are still allowing US players to play for real money even though the lobby says (said?) they cannot. My guesses are either the software isn't capable of it or the need to rake US players outweighs the legal need to ban them. I hope I get proved wrong but I think the run on the bank and the feds have exposed a ponzi scheme.

 

[Mousey]

Just some random musings as I sip my morning java....

It's not that I think the poker rooms (or casinos) are little miss goody two shoes... it's simply the audacity of the DOJ to confiscate the .com name and freeze all funds of offshore businesses (including foreign banks) which are operating perfectly legally in other countries that astounds me. I do hope the poker rooms had enough sense to prepare for this seizure.

At least the MG software had us all herded to 'separate' servers so they should be able to just flip the switch and lop us off like the rotten limb we are.

If the poker rooms were 'fudging' cc deposits with codes for 'suzie's shoes' or some such, do you think the CC companies will block their use entirely at poker rooms -- even by non US players?

I'd be truly surprised if AP/UB survives this mess at all. But then, I'm surprised they had enough players left to be a viable poker room.

In the back of my mind, I'm wondering if ECheckUS and EWX were merely part of a sting... if so... the US gov owes some people some money.

 

[vinylweatherman]

I don't think AP/UB players will ever see any substantial amount of their deposits. They have cut non US player cashouts down to $250/wk and are not letting US players request them. They are still allowing US players to play for real money even though the lobby says (said?) they cannot. My guesses are either the software isn't capable of it or the need to rake US players outweighs the legal need to ban them. I hope I get proved wrong but I think the run on the bank and the feds have exposed a ponzi scheme.

This is a clear indication of how severely they have been affected. Non-US play is perfectly legal, and so there should have been NO changes to their terms because of an action targetting only the US market. It probably shows they don't have the funds to cover the balances of even the non-US players, let alone the US ones, and are trying to avoid non-US players from bailing out faster than they can make the rake to pay them. They may be letting US players carry on playing with their balances in the hope that rake will transfer the money from US players to themselves in accounting terms, and also because the loss of US players will make the room pretty "dead", and unappealing to the non-US player.

Non-US players should withdraw the max allowed each week, and find somewhere else to play, just in case this seizure does end up driving them to the wall.

 

[pokeraddict]

I received my PokerStars cashout today. Full Tilt still has not started U.S. cashouts and seem to be slow paying non US players. AP/UB has paid quite a few non US players their $250 one time but I have not seen anyone report getting a second payment.

Also their $250/wk depends on how long they take to cash you out. For example if you cash out on May 1 and they take until May 8 to pay you then you still have to wait 7 days after that payment was processed to request another one. U.S. players can still play there but cannot deposit, cashout or transfer. I think AP/UB chips are worth about 10-20 cents on the dollar.

 

[pokeraddict]

By he way here is an interesting story in the St Petersburg Times about unhappy AP investors and their shell games.

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[silcnlayc]

Congressmans reply

May 3, 2011


xxxx

Dear xxx:

Thank you for contacting me about your support for Internet gambling. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts on this matter with me.

This issue is currently the subject of legislation before Congress. Introduced by Representative John Campbell, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (H.R. 1174), would create an exemption to the ban on online gambling for properly licensed operators, allowing Americans to lawfully gamble online.

Gambling is currently illegal in the United States unless regulated by the states. However, with the development of the Internet, prohibitions and regulations governing gambling have been circumvented. The tremendous amount of gambling websites from the Caribbean and elsewhere are unlicensed, untaxed, and unregulated by any state, and thus potentially violate all 50 state laws in which they are available. These offshore gambling businesses are often fronts for criminal and money laundering enterprises.

H.R. 1174 has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. I will keep your thoughts in mind should this bill come before the House of Representatives for a vote.

As your Representative in Congress, I appreciate your input in this matter. As always, if I may be of assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me in my Washington DC office at (202) 225-6365 or online at Link Removed ( Old/Invalid) . With kind personal regards, I am

Yours truly,



J. RANDY FORBES
Member of Congress

JRF:CH

 

[pokeraddict]

AP Update

1. They emailed all of their employees yesterday to tell them they were getting laid off and not to come in today

2. Today AP cleaned out their Costa Rica office

3. Blanca Games told their bond holders described here:

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that they would not be getting any money and the company was broke and to file bankruptcy

4. Non US players have not received more than 1 $250 cashout, many have not even received the first one

5. Nobody has been on VIP support chat or phone

6. No support emails got replied to today

I think it is safe to say that AP/UB is no more even though they are technically still open.

 

[jetset]

I believe that this statement from Blanca Games tends to confirm pokeraddict's post above:

HARD TIMES FOR CEREUS ONLINE POKER GROUP (Update)

Online poker provider exits US market, downsizes

Amid independent reports that its traffic has dropped off dramatically since Black Friday, the Cereus network, owned by Blanca Games Inc., has issued a statement confirming it is experiencing tough times.

The company's statement advises that its internet poker subsidiaries Absolute Poker.com and UBPoker have now exited the US market "...due to recent legal developments in the United States."

The announcement advises interested parties that the company is currently restructuring and will focus its remaining resources on consolidating its non-U.S., operations and software business.

"Unfortunately, this also means an immediate need to downsize and streamline operations significantly at both online poker rooms, with a view of becoming more efficient in the way the business is conducted," the statement continues.

"Today’s decision has not been made lightly, or in haste. It comes after considerable review and analysis of the impact that ‘Black Friday’ has had on the business as a whole. All affected employees have been informed of this necessary restructure, and staff will be reduced across several areas of the business."

A company spokesperson added: “We regret that we have been compelled to take these actions. We have worked tirelessly to create a truly amazing company that is filled with extraordinary people. We have always been and still remain fully committed to our employees and players. At the same time, we are confident that this restructuring will strengthen the company and its future.”

The company’s legal counsel is in continuing discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s office to formalise an agreement that would facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players.

The spokesman promised that further information and timely updates will be provided to players as the situation develops

 

[pokeraddict]

They keep saying that they are leaving the U.S. market but U.S. players still play there. This is going to be an interesting next few days.

 

[lots0]

You know as much as I want too, I just can't bring myself to defend the A-holes at AP/UB.

I don't like what the DOJ has done or how it has gone about it... But, you know I keep thinking, this couldn't have happened to a more deserving group. The only thing better would be to see Tom Scott and his cheating buddies in jail.

 

[MJackson]

Some pretty perspicacious posts ITT Poker Addict! I kinda hope you're at least wrong about them going completely under and taking everyone's money down with the ship though.

I remember laughing out loud, hysterically, a few years ago when I heard about their 12% interest bearing poker account. Who would be crazy enough to keep $500, much more $50,000 in that Guatemalan sinkhole of a poker room, I asked myself. Not only was the offer too good to be true, it so reeked of an outright scam its offering well may have overcome Bernie Madoff with guilty inhibitions.

I don't like what the DOJ has done or how it has gone about it... But, you know I keep thinking, this couldn't have happened to a more deserving group. The only thing better would be to see Tom Scott and his cheating buddies in jail.

Anyone else catch this thread over at four

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Seems he is doing shamefully fine.

 

[3mptyseat]

@MJ + stars payout

I got my pokerstars monies paid out yesterday... Funny that Stars should be actually targeted by the DoJ and others, Villento for example, who owe me a similar amount, be only 'scared' out of the marketplace whilst claiming to have processed my w/d on the 14th meanwhile Pokerstars couldn't even begin processing the amount until last week and yet I have no funds from Villento nor a reasonable timeframe for the $'s delivery... Anyways...

@MJ: Classic thread about that scum, Russ Hamilton... Its amazing that he seems to have a friend base in the older, golfing/live poker crowd (lol, who knew), most of whom, I am sure, do not play online poker and who must have a bad opinion of online cards or be completely out of touch with the history of poker in general since 2007, to give that sob anything but the hardest of times...

Anybody else wonder if there were not some tip offs to a few of the biggest names? Hellmuth and Duke abruptly leave UB, Cake loses Lee Jones, I'm sure there are other examples, and just bc x preceded y, doesn't mean x caused y, but maybe...

 

[Mousey]

Another interesting article on this mess by I Nelson Rose

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[Rambeno]

Has anyone heard any news regarding US players getting their money from Full Tilt? Both my wife and I have money still in there.

Rambeno

 

[pokeraddict]

Has anyone heard any news regarding US players getting their money from Full Tilt? Both my wife and I have money still in there.

Rambeno

There is still no projected time for this. I have not even gotten paid my rakeback for April 12-15 yet. They allege that all promotions besides rakeback are paid and that the FTP store will reopen soon. TBH I am getting concerned.

 

[Tengil]

There is still no projected time for this. I have not even gotten paid my rakeback for April 12-15 yet. They allege that all promotions besides rakeback are paid and that the FTP store will reopen soon. TBH I am getting concerned.

BTW read in NVG that 71 out of the 75 bank accounts that were seized belonged to FTP.
Do you know (or anyone) how truthful that is?

 

[Mousey]

poker "payment processor" admits U.S. charges

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By Grant McCool Grant Mccool – 5 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An Illinois man admitted in federal court on Monday to helping large online poker websites dodge U.S. gambling laws by processing millions of dollars in payments from his home in Costa Rica and lying to banks about the nature of the transactions.

So-called "payment processor" Bradley Franzen, 41, pled guilty in New York to criminal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and being part of operating an illegal gambling business. He faces a possible maximum prison term of 30 years.

Franzen was among 11 people whose indictment was announced by federal prosecutors in New York last month when authorities seized the Internet domain .....