Breaking News - Online Poker Giants Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB Poker Shut Down by Feds
If you’re a poker player from the United States or from any place for that matter, your poker playing days maybe over. The creators of the three largest poker websites on the internet were indicted today. A move which could send a major shockwave thru the industry at the minimum and maybe signal the end of some major poker brands.
Eleven execs at Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and several other companies were hit with charges of bank fraud and money laundering. Two of the defendants were taken into custody this morning in Nevada and Utah. Federal agents are still on the lookout for the others.
The executives listed in the filing are Isai Scheinberg, Raymond Bitar, Scott Tom, Brent Beckley, Nelson Burtnick, Paul Tate, Ryan Lang, Bradley Franzen, Ira Ruben, Chad Elie, and John Campos. Restraining orders were given against more than 75 bank accounts presumably used by the defendants and their payment processing companies.
Prosecutors want the websites closed down and the execs sent to prison. They would also like to recuperate approximately $3 billion from the companies involved. This afternoon, Full Tilt Poker’s website displayed a message that read, “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.” Soon after Poker Stars, Absolute Poker, and UB Poker websites displayed the same message. All four domains were taken by the Department of Justice.
In 2006, Congress passed legislation to stop gambling online. A lot of the big players managed to discover how to circumvent the law, but it looks like in doing so they may have broken a few laws along the way.
“These defendants concocted an sophisticated criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continuing flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” says Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, where today’s indictment was unsealed.
“Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also took part in significant money laundering and bank fraud.”
This certainly is the major news story of online poker players and the full effects on US poker sites surely have not been felt.