NETeller founders arrested

[Bobblehead]

NETeller founders charged with money laundering

The two directors, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, both Canadian citizens and founders of NETeller, were travelling separately in US when detained by authorities on Monday, 15 January.

Has this affected operations?
I don't think they were involved in the day-to-day operations anymore but this must have a chilling effect in internet gambling.

Edit: Forgot the link

[SeeGeeWhy]

Sweet. I knew I could trust that company.

I regretted giving them my banking information the second it escaped my lips.

[nfotiu]

wow. That's a pretty bold step. I wonder if it is a case they can win. I still fail to see how they are breaking the law. The American lawmakers may want to make it illegal for foreign companies to accept American money for something that is illegal in America, but can they?

How are they any more guilty than Visa?

[ericschand]

It is against the law to broker money between online gambling sites and
US residents.

Their company allowed the transfers, and Neteller even admits it in their
stock reports.

So, the operators of Neteller were arrested. They are guilty, and they
not only admit it, they also state that a threat to the company is to
have the US government prosecute them in the same reports.

Here's the link

Is it stupid/assinine? Yes.
Does the US have a case? Yes.
Will they be convicted, and used as an example? Yes.

Amusingly, "legal" Las Vegas casinos are beginning to whine about
the law. You see, while it seemed like a good idea at the time,
the casinos in Las Vegas are stopped from opening online gambling sites,
and accepting payments from MasterCard, Visa, etc. They got what
they wanted, but oops, went too far.

ers

[CaptainCrunch]

How is Visa illegal?

I was kinda curious about why they didn't use a more general charge like racketering or mail fraud which are two pretty general charges that they could narrow down later.

[Tyler]

This is BRUTAL!

Our website just lost InstaCash as a deposit option because of this announcement.

I need to find a new job in Calgary pretty soon

[underGRADFlame]

What a load of crap, stupid US and theyre policies.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by underGRADFlame

What a load of crap, stupid US and their hypocritical policies.

Fixed that for ya.

So gambling is "bad". You can't gamble on line. Only In Nevada, or Atlantic City, or native reserves, or on boats, or ......

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Tyler

This is BRUTAL!

Our website just lost InstaCash as a deposit option because of this announcement.

I need to find a new job in Calgary pretty soon

Hey crap. i just transferred a whole bunch of money out of my neteller account yesterday. Is there going to be a delay?

[ericschand]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

How is Visa illegal?

I was kinda curious about why they didn't use a more general charge like racketering or mail fraud which are two pretty general charges that they could narrow down later.

The US last year passed a specific law making it illegal to transfer funds
from banks, credit cards, etc., to online gambling. It is under this law
that they will be charged.

Using a Mastercard, Visa, or your bank account directly, became
illegal to use for online gambling. And it would be Mastercard, Visa, etc.,
that would be prosecuted, not the owner of the card itself.

Numerous online gambling sites will not allow registrations from the
US now. Party Poker (PartyGaming) and Paradise Poker come immediately
to mind.

Tyler: What website? Just curious as to the specifics.

Bobblehead: You see, a part of the law, not all of it, a part of it, was
being pushed by the "Nevada, or Atlantic City, or native reserves, or on boats, or ....."
Now they are finding out that even they cannot offer online gambling,
even they are legal in their own jurisdictions. Oops.

ers

[Bertuzzied]

Ummm I can't even log into my neteller account now! anyone else try?

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by ericschand

Tyler: What website? Just curious as to the specifics.

I work for one of the largest online bingo gambling sites in the world.

We're bracing for a NETeller collapse in the next couple of months, which isn't great, because a vast majority of our processing is done through NETeller

I don't think that public processing and ewallet companies (ie - NETeller) are going to make it out of this legislation. It's just too slippery for shareholders to have confidence in.

However, there is going to be a giant void filled by the InstaDebits and ATMOnline's (private companies) of the world who can bounce from bank to bank and get favorable processing, as opposed to a public company who is entirely transparent.

[ericschand]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Ummm I can't even log into my neteller account now! anyone else try?

I just tried, and logged in fine.

WTF?!? Shows a balance of $0.00!!!

But that's correct, because I withdrew everything a couple of weeks
ago. Cleaning out Neteller and online accounts, just in case.
Left about $150 in there to actually play with...

Yup, I'm paranoid, and not so sure things will turn out for us, the players.

Vip

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by ericschand

The US last year passed a specific law making it illegal to transfer funds
from banks, credit cards, etc., to online gambling. It is under this law
that they will be charged.

Using a Mastercard, Visa, or your bank account directly, became
illegal to use for online gambling. And it would be Mastercard, Visa, etc.,
that would be prosecuted, not the owner of the card itself.

Numerous online gambling sites will not allow registrations from the
US now. Party Poker (PartyGaming) and Paradise Poker come immediately
to mind.

Tyler: What website? Just curious as to the specifics.

Bobblehead: You see, a part of the law, not all of it, a part of it, was
being pushed by the "Nevada, or Atlantic City, or native reserves, or on boats, or ....."
Now they are finding out that even they cannot offer online gambling,
even they are legal in their own jurisdictions. Oops.

ers

According to the article, they are being prosecuted under the old law though, not the new one, I'm not sure the new law is even in effect yet.

[Tyler]

^^

No - they were given ~ 250 days to comply.

I think it kicks into effect in June or July

[evman150]

I requested an EFT ($2500) the day before this news came out. Am I worried? Not at all.

In fact, I just checked and I received the money this morning. I still have a few thousand in my account and have made more than one (successful) transaction in the past couple days.

2+2 forum on poker legislation: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/po...law&PHPSESSID=

If there is any online company you can trust, it is Neteller. I have been with them for two and a half years and have had zero problems. I don't forsee any in the future either.

[Tyler]

The problems with NETeller isn't going to be that you're not going to get your money.

Its simply going to be that they won't facilitate gambling transactions to companies if you're a US citizen.

That's all.

[evman150]

Well that doesn't affect us one iota now does it?

I play on European sites so it really doesn't affect me at all.

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by evman150

Well that doesn't affect us one iota now does it?

I play on European sites so it really doesn't affect me at all.

By "us", you mean you. Please stop being an ass. It obviously affects Tyler.

Anyways I, like ericshand, pulled out all my money online minus 400 between Pokerstars and Doyle's Room. Better safe than sorry.

[evman150]

An ass? wtf? His location says Vancouver, so what I said applies to him as well. By "us" I meant Canadians. This forum is 95% Canadians. I think it's fair to refer to us as "us".

Sorry you live in a country with borderline fascist policies...no need to get testy about it....well okay maybe there is, but get mad at your government, not me.